The folks at Finaid.org have a great FAQ section here. And in the "I can't believe it's free" department, they have a service called "Ask The Aid Advisor" in which over 100 financial aid administrators from across the country have volunteered to answer questions for free. You fill out a form, submit your question, and get an email response within two weeks. The site says they've already answered over 10,000 questions.
Every college-bound student and parent who's concerned about paying for college should spend a weekend pouring over the information they give away for free at Finaid.org. There's no shame in admitting that you're concerned about college finances and need help paying for it. But with resources like this available to you, you can be as informed as possible and make sure you don't make mistakes.