Can I Pay You in Bodily Organs?

Holy Hell ! ! !  I just did the handy-dandy financial estimation calculator for a university my daughter wants to attend next year!  What the hell ! ! !  I understand what the EFC is but when I saw it I couldn't believe my eyes!  Our EFC (estimated family contribution) is $15,000!  Yeah you read that right - FIFTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS ! ! !  Now I know college costs a lot of money but there is a school up the road where she can go for approximately $10,000 total!  Problem is they don't have what she wants to be when she grows up!  We probably should have saved more for her future but I didn't know we were supposed to be saving nearly $100 a month since the day she was BORN!  Hell, back then we only MADE $100 a month.  We were po' folk to say the least.  We have worked hard to get ourselves out of debt, gather an emergency fund and get Hubby a job that pays well.  Great!  We did all that.  The problem now is I feel like we are being punished for it.  On the questionaire it asks for how much we have in our savings and checking.  Ok.  I answered truthfully.  The thing is even with my truthful answer, our checking and savings combined does not equal what they are expecting us to contribute for ONE year.  That's right.  That $15,000 is just for one year.  And as for my hubby having a good job, you better hope you're on unemployment when your kids apply because here was our breakdown:  Federal Gift Aid - ZERO, State Gift Aid - ZERO, Institutional Gift Aid - ZERO.  I'm seeing a trend here.  The problem is even if we do give them everything we have and then some for her freshman year, then we will have a big fat ZERO.  How does this happen?  Are we really supposed to be homeless so that our daughter can attend college?  And as for scholarships?  She isn't athlete, musically inclined, or anything else that might get her a scholarship.  She is an average, middle-class, white kid which means she gets no help at all.  Nothing.  Anybody wanna buy a kidney?