The first time you pay for a college education is not unlike the first time you buy a car. You usually do a lot of shopping and comparison before making the final decision of which car to buy. As part of the process, you might test drive different models, do research on the Internet, and read the reviews published by the most popular car magazines. Then, when you have your heart set on a winner, you sit down at the table with the salesperson to draw up the paperwork. Like clockwork, the price starts going up. By the time sales tax, document fees, and that mysterious undercoating are added, that $10,999 car is suddenly $15,000.

The cost of a year in college isn’t much different, except instead of sales tax and an extended warranty, you have things like room, board, books, and student health fees. In the end, the tab for a year of college often ends up being thousands more than you expected.

Now don’t get me wrong—I really don’t think that most colleges are trying to wring every last dime out of you like some car dealerships do. However, countless students and parents set their hearts on a diploma from a certain college, only to realize that it costs a lot more than the advertised annual tuition rate. Of course, this leaves them in a lousy position, where they’re playing financial catch-up in a panicked state.