The College Solutions Blog

December 28, 2009

Want to attend a public university outside your state? Often the out-of-state tuition costs are far greater at state universities, which naturally prefer to keep the costs lowest for their own residents. You can, however, find public universities willing to cut their state tuition for outsiders. Here are five ways to cut the costs of attending a public university outside...

December 7, 2009

What’ the right way to pay back your student debt? It’s a question that puzzles a lot of college graduates, who are trying to figure out how to best juggle their student loans. For some college grads, student loan consolidation will be a smart idea. What’s also important is choosing the right payment option for student debt. Kathy Kristof, a...

November 22, 2009

Students at campuses across the University of California system rioted last week after the Board of Regents voted to increase undergraduate tuition by 32% next year. You can see video of the fee hike protest at UCLA here. I want to play devil’s advocate and suggest that tuition hikes at UCLA and the other UC campuses is a good thing....

November 18, 2009

Wondering if you should apply for financial aid. Here’s the answer: Yes.  You should file for financial aid. During the past few hours, I heard that advice over and over. I was on the phone for a good part of the day interviewing financial aid experts for a story about the upcoming changes to the FAFSA or Free Application for...

November 12, 2009

Today I want to share with you a great new web site that can help you research colleges:  College Insight. College Insight has gathered detailed information on nearly 5,000 colleges and universities in this country. You can find statistics for any school on such topics as these: College affordability. Check out statistics on tuition and total cost of attendance, average...

November 6, 2009

The odds of getting into UC Berkeley are shrinking even more. The odds of getting into UC Berkeley were never high. According to the College Board’s latest figures, Cal Berkeley’s acceptance rate is 22%. Expect that to get even worse. UC Berkeley is going to become even more impregnable for California high school seniors. Next year, UC Berkeley expects to...

November 4, 2009

What is the most expensive college in America? Sarah Lawrence College grabs the dishonors this year for having the highest price tag. Sarah Lawrence’s sticker price is $54,410. What I find most alarming about the price of Sarah Lawrence, however, is that dozens of other colleges and universities are charging nearly as much. It was just a few years ago...

November 2, 2009

Will some of the nation’s top flagship universities turn private? This question isn’t as wacky as it sounds. Some flagships, including the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia, have explored the idea of becoming private universities. Sure it would be shocking if state universities ditched their public mandates to serve as educational beacons for their own residents, both...

October 27, 2009

Want to lower the cost of college? How does eliminating all your child’s room and board costs sound? It’s possible if your child becomes a resident assistant. A resident assistant serves as a surrogate mother hen to the kids in the dorms. RAs help settle disputes and make sure kids aren’t doing dumb things like hauling beer kegs into their...

October 25, 2009

As usual, I am sharing with you the posts that I wrote for my college blog for CBSMoneyWatch.com during the past week. Baby Einstein Bust: Toys That Will Make Your Child Smarter. Did parents really think that plunking their infants in front of Baby Einstein DVDs was really going to make them geniuses. Come on. Surely they knew Baby Einstein...