The income of his parents makes a big difference. If they are professional class, their incomes will make it so he doesn't qualify for financial aid. If they won't cosign loans, it puts said young person in a very tough situation. In this case, the young person needs to talk to the financial aid office and establish that he is entirely supporting himself. This can be very difficult. Right now, he should make sure that his parents aren't declaring him as a dependent on their taxes.

If his parents have lower incomes, then he should apply to a lot of colleges with hope of getting a good financial aid package. Generally, when you're paying for it yourself, it's not worth going to an expensive college, but computer science is special -- the education from CMU or MIT is worth the extra money. Owing 100k in student loans is a lot more manageable for a high end professional degree. If he was majoring in sociology, he would want to go to the school with the lowest sticker price.

He should definitely go to college and almost no one should join the armed forces, certainly not as a launching pad for a career as a hacker.

Also, this bill goes into effect this July and would allow for emancipated minors to file independently for financial aid. Assuming he is already 18, it is probably too late to take advantage of this. http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_5.html