In the past 25 years, college costs have risen to nearly three times the rate of the cost of living. With the recession and skyrocketing unemployment rates, more than half of all American families can't afford to send their kids to college.

Jaiquann, Elijah and twins Darien and Barien are high school track stars and top students who also work to help support their single mothers. The boys keep each other motivated—on and off the track. "Darien and Barien are kind of keeping me on track with my grades and everything," Jaiquann says. "They're probably the reason why I got a 3.5 this year."

Although they've been accepted to their dream universities, they cannot afford to go. "When I got accepted there, I was actually pretty stoked and excited," Jaiquann says. "But when I realized that I wasn't going to be able to afford it, it just pretty much saddened me."

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