Todd Potter, a first-year history major at D’Youville College, knows he signed papers that financed his education, he is just not sure what those papers said.

“It was so overwhelming. My mom would just show up at the financial aid office with a bunch of papers, and then she would call me in and say, ‘Sign this and this,’” Potter said.

The college’s financial aid office worked closely with his mother, helping her cobble together resources and giving her a crash course in college financing. But in the end, it wasn’t enough to demystify the process for Potter and his parents, who, he said, had “no handle” on how financial aid works and hadn’t saved a dime.

“You know, your grandparents say, ‘You’re smart, you’ll go to school for free,’ ” he said. “You hear that if you have good grades, you don’t have to worry. Well, it didn’t exactly turn out that way.”

Fortunately, Potter was awarded the school’s presidential scholarship, giving him a 50 percent break on the private school’s annual tuition cost of $19,800. But that left nearly $10,000 that needed to be covered. The extra money came from some grants and a series of loans he will have to pay back after college.

When it comes to paying for college, expert advice is to save a lot and start saving early. But what if you haven’t? What if Junior is applying to schools now—or is already there—with no savings to count on? If you are a student or parent who hasn’t planned ahead, here are some things you should know:

Whose name should the money be in? If a student is hoping to qualify for need-based funding, any contributions from family members should not be transferred into an account bearing the student’s name.

“Anything that is in a child’s name, the college will look at,” said Bill Deacon, a certified financial planner and vice president at Harold C. Brown and Co., an investment services company in Buffalo. “If there is money there, the college is going to expect them to use it.”

Money and assets in a parent’s name are weighted far less heavily than those owned by a student. Parents’ assets are assessed at a rate of 5.64 percent. For a student, the assessment is 20 percent. Keeping that money tucked away with parents or other relatives will be much more helpful to a student looking for additional aid.

Declaring independence. Under the age of 23, financial aid applications will take the parents’ financial information into account, whether they are helping pay for college or not. It’s common for students to seek independent status, hoping to have a better shot at need-based funding. But the likelihood of the average student qualifying for independence is slim.

“Paying your own BlackBerry bill doesn’t mean you’re independent,” said Andy Leardini, founding partner of College Financing Group, a company that assists parents filing for financial aid. “In order to be declared, you would have to be in some pretty extreme circumstances.”

To be eligible for independent status, students would have to be emancipated minors, married, homeless, in the military, a military veteran, in a graduate program, providing more than half of the support of children or dependents; or orphaned, in foster care or a ward of the state from the age 13.

“Students can appeal, but most colleges go by the [same] federal standards,” said Leardini.

Do the grandparents want to help? If a grandparent wants to help pitch in on a student’s education, and that student is not a dependent, the grandparent won’t receive any tax credits or other goodies.

Also, if a grandparent ends up in a spend-down situation, where he or she is trying to reduce money and assets in anticipation of qualifying for Medicaid later, money gifted or set aside in a special account for education will be subject to the five-year look-back period if they do apply for Medicaid.

“[The government] wouldn’t necessarily come looking to take the money back from the student, but it could take longer for [the grandparent] to qualify for medical coverage,” said Deacon. “If a grandparent gives away $50,000, the government could delay eligibility based on the time it takes to recoup that money.”

Roth IRA. You can take money out of your Roth IRA at any time for any reason. However, only your own contributions can be taken out early without taxes and penalties.

If you have not yet had money in your Roth IRA for a full five years and are not at least 59z years old, you will pay penalties and taxes on money you take out that came from earnings. If you take earnings out for higher education for yourself, a spouse, a child or grandchild, the penalty may be waived, but you will still pay taxes.

Remember though, you may not want to mortgage your retirement to pay for a child’s education. Junior can always borrow money to finance school, but no one is going to loan you money to finance your retirement.

“It’s an emotional decision. We want to give our kids every opportunity, but we don’t want to go broke doing it,” said Leardini. “If you do the math, you can pay a $160,000 sticker price for a local education. At the end of the day, it’s like taking out a mort-gage.”

Also, money withdrawn from a Roth IRA can hurt a student’s eligibility for need-based financial aid. As long as the money is held in an IRA, it won’t count against the student. Once the money is withdrawn, it is considered income.

“If you keep the IRA until your son has filed his final FAFSA, his financial aid eligibility will not be affected, even if you then tap it to help pay for his senior year,” said Michael Hardy, a certified financial planner and partner at Mollot & Hardy, a financial planning firm in Amherst.

Student Loans. Most colleges will suggest one of three types of loans for students and parents trying to pay for college.

If you’re going to take advantage of any of these options, use them in the order listed. For example, a student Stafford loan will be the best option, followed by a PLUS loan and then a private loan, which typically has the worst terms and highest costs.

Student Stafford loans. Freshman students can borrow up to a total of $5,500 in Stafford loans. They come in two forms: Subsidized, a need-based loan where the government pays the loan’s interest while the student is in school, and unsubsidized, with the interest accruing during those school years, and the student paying off that interest in addition to the loan amount after graduation.

For the 2010 to 2011 school year, unsubsidized Stafford loans come with a fixed interest rate of 4.5 percent. Unsubsidized loans (everyone is eligible for these, regardless of need), have a fixed rate of 6.8 percent.

Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS). Parents can borrow money from the federal government on behalf of a dependent child to pay for undergraduate education. With a PLUS loan, parents can borrow up to the cost of college attendance minus any other aid. So if a student’s tuition is $10,000, and he or she has $5,000 in loans and grants, the parent can borrow the additional $5,000 to fill that gap.

PLUS lenders will use a credit check to determine whether a parent is eligible for the loan. PLUS loans carry a fixed interest rate of 7.9 percent or 8.5 percent, depending on which lender you work with, plus a fee of 4 percent. For more detail on PLUS loans, visit www.finaid.org/loans/parentloan.phtml.

Private Loans. A lot of lenders have gotten out of the private student loan business. Those who remain are charging interest rates as high as 20 percent. Eligibility will depend on a credit score review.

“Often what happens is the student applies for the loan and the parents co-sign, meaning it’s really the parents’ loan,” said Leardini. “Private loans should be a last resort.”

Other options might be more cost-effective. You may want to check with an accountant or financial planner to see whether you might get better terms with an alternative arrangement, such as a home equity loan or line of credit.