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Everyone's Money Book on College 

By Jordan Goodman

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More and more students are going to college, so many that even second-tier institutions find themselves deluged with applications. And the competition for the top, prestigious institutions is even fiercer. 

Still, with more than 3,600 colleges and universities in this country, you have quite a few potential choices. 

If you intelligently select a roster of potential candidates and systematically go about the application process, your child stands a good chance of getting in-somewhere. 

Maybe not the dream school. But somewhere. 

No, the larger problem, the really big Kahuna, is another matter: how to pay for that education. 

The average four- year private school, including room and board, supplies, and other expenses, costs $26,070 a year. 

For a family with two or three children, that adds up to a big chunk of change-probably the biggest expense you’re likely to face next to your mortgage. 

In the current volatile economic climate, coming up with the money may be an especially big worry. 

But, we know something you may not: Most people do have the means to send their children to college. People like you.

Even in today’s shaky economy, and even if you don’t get started when your offspring are just out of the delivery room, there are still many ways for you to scrape together the money you will need.

Still, you won’t get there without a lot of work. This isn’t a fairy tale. Planning, saving, and a clear understanding both of how to find financial aid and the mistakes to avoid are all necessary elements in your strategy.

And that’s where this book comes in. 

We aim to help you learn how to tackle the college-financing monster-and we aim to do it in a form that’s clear, concise, and easy to read. 

After all, while we know it’s a subject of vital importance to you and your children, we also realize something else: You’re busy. 

And what you need is one place where you can get all the information you need. 

To that end, we’ve assembled a soup-to-nuts guide to everything you need to know, from estimating costs to finding potential scholarships your child might be eligible for. It’s all here. 

And, because we know that half the battle is having the right resources at your fingertips, we’ve included lots of comprehensive tables and a host of invaluable books, software programs, associations, and Web sites you can turn to along the way. 

Specifically, this book will show you:
  • How to determine what costs are likely to be at various kinds of schools and how much you’ll need to save to pay them. 
  • How to invest wisely in funds earmarked for college tuition
  • All about the latest savings plans, including the new 529 state plans
  • Which government grants are available and how to apply for them 
  • All about scholarships-who offers them, where to find them, how to win one 
  • The lowdown on loans, both government and private
  • What financial aid officers are looking for 
  • How to apply for federal aid - Ways to reduce costs 
  • How to use the Internet in your financing efforts.  

Whether you assemble the money to pay for your children’s college education from savings and investments, grants, scholarships, or loans, the costs are burdensome. 

The earlier you develop a plan to fund college, the lighter the burden will be.

Ultimately, however, it’s important to keep your eye on the prize. 

Indeed, while the sacrifice of paying for college is great, the reward-a bright future for your children-can be even greater. 

Jordan E. Goodman 

Excerpted from Everyone's Money Book on College by Jordan Elliot Goodman.
Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
About the Author: Jordan E. Goodman is a weekly contributor to Public Radio International’s The Marketplace Morning Report and appears frequently as a personal finance commentator on NBC, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, and Fox television. 

He also is a frequent guest on radio call-in shows around the country. On the editorial staff of Money magazine for 18 years, where he served as Wall Street correspondent, Goodman was also a weekly financial analyst on NBC News at Sunrise for 9 years and a daily financial commentator on the Mutual Broadcasting Network for 8 years. 

His frequent speeches, workshops, and media guest appearances around the country keep him in touch with consumers’ and investors’ financial interests. He is the author of Everyone's Money Book, now in its third edition, as well as the coauthor of Barron’s Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms and Barron’s Finance and Investment Handbook. 

Goodman is the creator of a multimedia personal finance education package, The Money Answers Program, and publishes a weekly newsletter, Money Answers Now! 



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Copyright © 2003 Amherst Enterprises. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.