OK, here goes ... the options I'm taking about are military ones. If you're going to a school with an ROTC program, you can compete for two-, three-, and four-year scholarships that will cover tuition, fees, pay a stipend for books, and pay a small monthly living stipend. Some schools, like the one I went to, threw in free room & board for the duration of the scholarship. The advantage to you is that you get your money up front, and live like a normal college student except for taking the additional ROTC classes and doing ROTC-related training. You'll owe the service time in return for the scholarship once you graduate (likely active duty, but there are guaranteed reserve duty scholarships) -- but there are worse things than having a guaranteed job when you graduate. Once in the military, there are lots of options for free education if you know how to find them -- we send people to fully funded medical and law school every year, as well as graduate programs (both Masters and PhD). I just finished my Master's on the Army's dollar -- they paid for eveything (well, except for my parking fee), and I still drew my full salary while going to school. There's nothing quite like getting paid to sit in class. If this interests you, check out the local ROTC (if your college doesn't have one there, it may have an agreement to cross-enroll with another local school that has a unit).
If a post-college commitment doesn't appeal to you, the Reserves and National Guard can provide quite a bit of financial aid while you're in school. You'll have to get job-qualified, which means attending full-time basic-training and job training for whatever your specialty is first. Once that's done, you're eligible to draw Reserve GI Bill benefits, which is a check written directly to you each month that you're enrolled. You'll drill with your reserve unit once a month (drawing that pay). In addition, there are additional benefits depending upon your unit and job skill -- the Army Reserve had been offering up to $5000 cash enlistment bonuses, and up to $24,000 in student loan repayment (the numbers have changed slightly; see a reserve recruiter for current ones). The National Guard and the other services have similar programs.
Obviously, not everyone cares for this approach -- it entails a bit of sacrifice in terms of time -- but the educational and job benefits can be immense.
