Students are having a hard enough time paying for tuition this year with their parents losing jobs and more people competing for financial aid.

Textbook prices only make things worse, adding hundreds of dollars to the cost of a higher education.

The price of textbooks has been a touchy subject for years with the General Assembly weighing in this year with legislation designed to ease the prices, which increased 186 percent from 1986 to 2004. Maketextbooksaffordable.org is a website that was designed to focus on the issue.

Luckily these days there are plenty of options for students to buy their books other than the campus bookstore. Chegg.com and campusbookrentals.com are sites where students can rent books. Half.ebay.com and Amazon.com offer books at prices much lower than the full retail price. Bookfinder.com will compare the price of a textbook on various Internet sites.

Continue reading "Think textbook prices are too high, try these alternatives" »

Posted by Andrea Walker at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: College/Financial aid, textbooks
        

As students head back to college campuses in the next couple of weeks, they're going to be met by credit card companies hawking plastic.

With credit card reform passed this year, credit cards have gotten a pretty bad reputation in some circles. College kids are getting warnings from everybody to stay away from the cards.

So now marketers are pushing prepaid cards. Parents put money on the cards that their kids then use. No more racking up debt. At least we hope.

But as my colleague Eileen Ambrose writes in a story in The Sun today, debit cards might not be that great of an alternative either. The cards come with fees, some which are hidden, she said.

Ambrose writes that a checking account with a debit card tied to it might be a better option. And when students learn to handle that responsibly over time, they can graduate to a credit card.

Posted by Andrea Walker at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Budgeting, College/Financial aid, Credit cards
        

The Princeton Review's College Rankings rates schools in 62 categories. On financial aid, here are the best:

1) Swarthmore College (Swarthmore PA)

2) Stanford Univ. (Stanford CA)

3) Harvard College (Cambridge MA)

4) Washington Univ. (St. Louis MO)

 5) Pomona College (Claremont CA)

Princeton Review surveyed 122,000 students at 371 colleges

What do you think?

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 4:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

UPDATED: Got questions about paying fall college tuition bills, student loans or the first-time homebuyer's credit? Check out Eileen's live chat about personal finance at 12 p.m. Tuesday, July 21 and pose your questions to the expert herself!

Sun business columnist Eileen Ambrose has some excellent ideas for families struggling to pay college costs after their financial situations changed due to job loss, declining investment value, home foreclosures or other problems.

The first step is important: call the college's financial aid office right away and tell them you're having a problem. Several local schools have extended aid adjustment deadlines or even raised money specifically to assist students who are struggling, according to Eileen.

Check her column for more ideas of financial aid sources. 

Continue reading "Help with college tuition costs" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: College/Financial aid, Student loans
        

How about a college education with your refried beans?

Taco Bell says it is giving away four $25,000 college scholarships to customers tomorrow. You’ll receive a code that you can enter at tacobellgraduation.com for a chance to win. No purchase required, but you must be age 13 or older to participate.

The fast-food chain says it also will donate 15 percent of its sales tomorrow to the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens, a nonprofit created to reduce the number of high school drop outs and help teens prepare for college.

Taco Bell says a study in March 2006 found that every 26 seconds a teen drops out of high school. And nearly one-third of teens in the country, and up to half of Latinos and African Americans, won't graduate with their class.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

Eileen's got an excellent column this week with savings tips for recent college graduates, helping them set financial priorities due to poor employment outlook and dismal economic climate.

One important piece of advice when weighing potential jobs: consider positions that might a. help you develop marketable skills that can aid your next employment search and b. benefits. A job that offers lower pay but adds health insurance can be a valuable bonus. 

Also, when talking about health insurance, did you know that in Maryland, uninsured, unmarried dependents up to age 25 ...

Continue reading "Financial advice for the Class of 2009: Consumer Sundays" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Budgeting, Cheap/Frugal, College/Financial aid, Insurance, Student loans, Wages
        

Financial aid departments are inundated with requests for additional assistance from families reeling from problems in the woeful economy, Eileen Ambrose writes.

The tragic stories about lost jobs, foreclosed home and other financial issues just keep coming in, according to staff at the University of Maryland, Towson University and others. 

How do you ensure that your questions --- and requests for additional aid --- will be honored? 

Continue reading "Financial aid woes: Consumer Sundays" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Budgeting, Cheap/Frugal, College/Financial aid, Personal finance
        

Maybe you're in a deadend job in a deadend career and are thinking about going back to school to retrain and retool. Or maybe you've already gotten that pink slip and severance package, and are thinking about getting more education while the job market is undergoing a massive transformation.

Or maybe you're just a knowledge geek, hungry for good information wherever you can get it -- especially if it's free. If any of the above apply to you, you might want to check out a new web site called Academic Earth.

The site offers full, free lectures from professors at some of the most prominent universities in the United States, including: Berkeley, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale. You can view lectures (and download them to your iPod or embed in your blog or Website) in a wide range of subjects, from the hard sciences to law, medicine, and religion.

So if you're thinking about law school, business school, or med school as a way to a career change, you might want to watch a few videos to get a feel for what you could expect before you shell out tens of thousands of dollars on tuition.

Here's an example video from a lecture on entrepreneurship, by Yale's Barry Nalebuff, called: "Why not? How to use everyday ingenuity to solve problems big and small."

Posted by Gus Sentementes at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Cheap/Frugal, College/Financial aid
        

If your child's 529 plan investments took a nosedive last year, you'll have an additional chance to consider switching things up a bit, Excellent Eileen told us Sunday.

Usually you can make changes only once a year to a 529 plan, but this year investors will have two opportunities. Eileen warns, however, that just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

You might "lock in your losses" if you switch to less volatile, more conservative options and the market bounces back, she points out.

Whether you should make changes will depend largely on your child's age.

If you have a younger child, you have the time to ride the ups and downs of a fairly aggressive stock portfolio. And stocks still manage to provide the best returns over the long haul.

The difficult choice will be for families whose children are a year or two from college. Do you stay put with your investments, or not?

Continue reading "Consumer Sundays: a 2nd chance to change 529 plan investments and testing Comcast customer service" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Budgeting, Cable/Satellite/TV/Comcast/FiOS, College/Financial aid, Investments, Warranties
        

Financial aid guru Mark Kantrowitz spotted this IRS special rule that applies to next year only.

The IRS will allow families in 529 college savings plans to change their investments twice a year, instead of just once. Also, you could change your investments under certain cases, say, you were changing the beneficiary or moving from one plan to another.

“This special rule will allow families to adjust their asset allocations in response to turmoil in the stock market,” Kantrowitz writes in an e-mail. “However, selling the investments now will lock in losses and may cause families to miss a possible recovery.” You could, for instance, sell when the market suddenly plunges and miss out when it recovers a day or two later.

Also adds Kantrowitz: “A family can take a deduction for a loss on a 529 college savings plan or other qualified tuition plan (e.g., Coverdell Education Savings Account), but only if they liquidate the account in full and only as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Schedule A of IRS Form 1040 (i.e., subject to the 2% of AGI threshold). You cannot treat it as a capital loss.”

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

Can Maryland be getting a new college savings plan?

It seems so.

The General Assembly this year gave the thumbs up to creating a college savings plan that would be sold through brokers and financial advisers. The board of College Savings Plans of Maryland is expected to take the matter up for a vote early next year, says executive director Joan Marshall.

Right now, Maryland has a college savings plan managed by T. Rowe Price Associates. You can invest directly through the plan, without having to go through a broker. That saves the cost of a broker commission, leaving you with more money to set aside for college.

Not only that, but the Price plan regularly is named one of the top five college plans in the country by Morningstar.

So, why do residents need another plan?

“Mainly because there are still people who want to work with financial advisers and want to develop a college savings plan that fits with their overall financial plan,” Marshall says.

Right now, many of these Marylanders tend to invest in the Virginia plan that pays a fee to advisers, Marshall says. Launching a new adviser-sold plan could help Maryland recapture some of those customers.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 7:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

Enrollment starts today for families wanting to sign up for the Maryland Prepaid College Trust.

This plan allows families to pay for college tuition and fees in advance as a hedge against inflation.

The price of contracts is tied to tuition and fees at Maryland's public colleges. For instance, the price of buying four years at a university, for example, went up 1.1 percent in the past year because tution rates remained stable while fees went up slightly.

Four years at a university this season costs $37,001 for a child who is now an infant, or $38,730 for a high school student.

You can pay the amount in a lump sum or making installment payments over years.

The prepaid program also allows you to prepay years at a community college or buy as little as  one semester at a four-year school.

Maryland residents can deduct up to $2,500 a year on contributions to the Maryland plan on their state income tax.

 Enrollment runs through April 6.

For more information, go to the College Savings Plans of Maryland Web site.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

Four Maryland colleges made Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of the 100 Best Values at Public Colleges for 2008-2009.

Among them, University of Maryland, College Park. Here’s what Kiplinger’s says about the school: “But you should also admire the up-and-comers, such as the University of Maryland-College Park, which catapulted to number nine from number 28 last year, thanks to a lower student-faculty ratio and a big jump in graduation rates.” (ed note: woohoo, go Terps. -- DD UMCP 1994)

Kiplinger’s says it started with more than 500 public four-year schools across the country. Then it whittled that down to about 120 based on SAT scores, admission rates, student-faculty ratios and freshmen retention.

The next step, the magazine ranked schools based on cost — including room and board and books — and financial aid, including how much debt a student accumulates by graduation.

Continue reading "Bargain colleges in Maryland" »

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

If you've been angry about this whole $700 billion bailout and how it doesn't really help you much personally, maybe this little bit of news may make you feel better.

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced today that the Administration is going to take a number of steps to support the student loan market.

As we all know, the credit crunch isn't just affecting mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. It's also hurt student loans. 

Here's part of the text of what Paulson and Spellings released, explaining that they recognize that education is the foundation of a strong American workforce: 

Earlier this week, President George W. Bush signed H.R. 6889, the extension of the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act. We appreciate Congress providing the Department of Education, in coordination with the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget, renewed temporary powers to use federal funds to ensure students and families continue to have access to student loans

Continue reading "Rescue Part II: Feds Announce More Help for Student Loans" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: College/Financial aid, Economy, Loans
        

Are you looking for advice on how to lower your debt and increase your savings?

On Friday, Your Money Bus is coming to Baltimore's Inner Harbor, offering fee-only financial advisors who will be holding free advice events and symposiums where you can learn how to get your financial life in order.

Continue reading "Your Money Bus Tour coming to Baltimore" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Budgeting, College/Financial aid, Debt, Economy, Personal finance
        

Families often don’t let the price of a college limit their choice of schools. And they don’t think about how they will repay student loans when they are borrowing.

These are just two of the findings in a Salle Mae and Gallup study called “How America Pays for College.”

The study looked at 1,400 undergraduates and parents. Among the findings:

— 42 percent of families didn’t let cost of a college affect their choice of school, even after getting the financial aid package.

— 70 percent didn’t think about what sort of income the student would likely earn after graduation when they figuring out how much to borrow.

— The majority of parents worried about rising tuition and increases in the interest rates on loans.

 — Only 3 percent of families used the equity in their home to help pay for college last year. But nearly three-quarters of them were counting on tapping their home equity again for the next school year.

— About 90 percent of families with income under $35,000 filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, but only 76 percent of families earning $35,000 to $50,000 do so.

These findings are troubling in a number of ways.

By ignoring the cost tuition when choosing a school, you might end up going to a school that’s far too pricey for your budget. You could have instead gone to a less expensive school that was also strong in your field of study.

And if you don’t consider how much you'll earn after after graduation before borrowing, you can be saddled with tens of thousands of dollars to repay on loans while earning a meager salary.

That can lead to some pretty lean times in your 20s and limit many other things you want to do. I’m reminded of a recent e-mail from someone who earns $30,000 at a non-profit, but is struggling to pay off $50,000 in student loans. She wants to go to grad school, but can’t afford it.

Also, relying on home equity can be a problem when home values today are flat or even falling.

And filling out the FAFSA application is critical, particularly for those earning $50,000 or less. Even those earning two or three times that should make sure they fill out the form. If you don’t qualify for need-based grants and loans, you might still qualify for a non-subsidized federal Stafford loan for undergraduates. And federal loans are the most consumer-friendly loans around.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

It's been many, many years since I've had to worry about buying text books for college classes (and honestly, back then I was still smart enough to get a scholarship to pay for it), but boy, do I remember how freakin' expensive some of those books cost... especially the ones for science and economics classes. It used to make me wonder if college profs were getting a cut of book sales just for requiring a certain text for their course. (yea yea, I've always been this cynical.)

My lovely niece, the one who I barely let cross the street by herself, the one who recently got her driver's license (!), is heading off to college this fall and I'm just wincing at how much it's going to cost her.

Just thinking about how much the books are going to cost her makes my teeth ache. The College Board, which tracks college pricing trends, says college students spend an average of $940 a year on textbooks and supplies.

Continue reading "Don't get crushed by college textbook costs" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Budgeting, Cheap/Frugal, College/Financial aid, Shopping
        

Did you catch Wonk-esse Jamie and her blog post today? It's about people who are angry that "all the housing-related bailouts are handing a bill to taxpayers who played by the rules and are paying their mortgages or their rent."

I've been watching the housing meltdown and the political reaction to it, and I have to agree with the readers on Jamie's site and the people quoted in the AP story. I'm angry, too, that we seem to be rewarding the reckless.

As the story says about the government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:

Meanwhile, tens of millions of people pay their mortgages on time, don't max out their credit cards and put money into retirement funds. They may even save a little extra on the side.

In return, they get rates on their savings that don't even keep up with inflation. They also are witnessing the horror of their nest eggs shrinking as the value of their homes plummets and the stock market tumbles.

Washington policymakers seem more focused on rescuing those who behave badly by putting at risk taxpayers who have played by the rules.

Continue reading "Rewarding the reckless" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 6:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: College/Financial aid, Complaints, Debt, Economy, Loans
        

Maybe you’ve thought about lending your niece money for college. Imagine her excitement – and how good you will feel - when she doesn’t have to grovel to some bank for a loan, which might reject her any way because she doesn’t have much of a credit history. (ed note: These are Eileen's sage words. I'm just posting this for her. -- DD)

Maybe then it crosses your mind: “What if she doesn’t pay me back?” How will you ask her for your money? Or, what if you do ask, and she still doesn’t pay and stops taking your calls? Will every Thanksgiving family gathering be spoiled forever?

Maybe you conclude you all would be better off if you didn’t even broach the idea of a loan.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Enter GreenNote, the latest peer-to-peer lending site and one that deals strictly with student loans.

Peer-to-peer sites match people who need money with friends or strangers who are willing to lend small amounts, usually at least $50, in return for interest income. I wrote last month about how such sites are beginning to focus more on student loans, besides the usual borrowing to pay off credit cards or open a business. The story is posted below.

Continue reading "Moola for College" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: College/Financial aid, Loans
        

Morningstar, the investment research company, has published its annual report on the best and worst 529 college savings plans.

Among the top five: the College Savings Plan of Maryland managed by Baltimore’s T. Rowe Price Associates. The Maryland plan was one of Morningstar’s five favorites last year, too.

Here’s what Morningstar says about the plan this time:

“T. Rowe Price runs the College Savings Plan of Maryland. Residents get a big break because they can deduct up to $2,500 of their annual contributions for each beneficiary from their state income taxes, and contributions in excess of $2,500 can be deducted in any of the following 10 years. The plan looks equally good on the fee front. Total annual asset-based fees are well below industry norm, ranging from 0.68% to 0.97%. (Investors also pay a $25 annual account fee.) Better still is the fact that this plan is packed with top-quality funds that cover the market spectrum. So while the taxes advantages make this plan particularly attractive for residents, we consider it a topnotch option for nonresidents too."

Morningstar’s other top picks are the Virginia Education Saving Trust and Virginia College America, Illinois Bright Start College Saving Program and Colorado Scholars Choice College Saving Program. That last one is run by Baltimore’s Legg Mason.

The five worst plans, according to Morningstar:

— Ohio Putnam College Advantage. Poor fund performance and high manager turnover.

— Mississippi TIAA-CREF Affordable College Savings Program and Mississippi TIAA-CREF Affordable College Savings Advisor Program. High fees and limited investment options.

— New York 529 College Savings Program. Reasonably priced, but lacks diversification.

— Nebraska AIM College Savings Plan. Too expensive.

Read the full report on Morningstar’s site.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

If you’ve been procrastinating about signing up for the Maryland Prepaid College Trust, you’re running out of time.

You have all day tomorrow to sign up before the latest enrollment season ends.

The prepaid plan allows you to pay for college in advance. The price of the contracts are tied to the cost of tuition and fees at Maryland public colleges. If your child ends up not attending a Maryland school, you can always use the cash at a private or out-of-state college.

Applications must be postmarked by Friday. But you also can complete the form online up until literally the last minute tomorrow.

You don’t have to buy four years of school, either. You can prepay one semester at a university. Or, buy one or two years at a community college. Or, split the difference, buying two years at a community college and two years at a university.

Payments can be made in lump sum or on installment plan.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 7:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: College/Financial aid
        

Have you ever wanted to hire a financial advisor to give you tips on saving and investing money? How much would you pay someone for valuable tips on buying and keeping a home? Would you pay money to listen to someone give you advice on how to start your own business?

Saturday's your lucky day, my friends. The Baltimore CASH Campaign -- which is working with Congressman Elijah Cummings and other community and financial institution partners -- is holding its 3rd Annual Money Power Day on Feb. 16 at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, 1400 W. Coldspring Lane, Baltimore, MD. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This year's theme is "Road Map to Financial Success." The event will feature an exhibit area with over 40 organizations providing information to working families who need help obtaining and understanding a credit report, legal advice on taxes and information about grants to help people purchase homes in the city. There will also be workshops and services on a range of financial topics from credit counseling to tax preparation assistance.

Continue reading "Get Money Smart" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 8:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Budgeting, College/Financial aid, Credit cards, Credit reports, Debt, Personal finance
        

People who earn little money often pay more for financial services because they lack access to low-interest, short-term sources of credit and to banks themselves, according to a report by the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition. They're also not informed of the high fees they often pay to consolidate debt and for tax refund anticipation loans or payday loans.

The Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition is urging elected officials and government regulators to take more steps to protect the rights of poor consumers and to enforce the laws already on the books.

Interesting to note --- part of the remedy in the 2003 Maryland Debt Management Services Act involves making sure that the print is not-so-fine:

"The consumer must enter into a debt management services agreement
and must receive a copy of the agreement that is in at least 12
point type and sets out the schedule of payments, maintenance
fees and a list of which creditors will receive payments, and a
notice of the right to rescind the agreement by giving written
notice."

Continue reading "Poor? Pay more." »

Posted by Liz Kay at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: College/Financial aid, Consumer protection, Debt, Loans, Personal finance
        

Not to be outsmarted by Harvard, Yale University today says it’s slashing the cost of college by more than half for families with incomes under $120,000.

Make $120,000 to $200,000 and the college bill will be trimmed by a third or more. Quite a discount when you consider a year at New Haven now costs about $48,000.

But the Yale tuition sale didn’t stop there. Yale says it is eliminating the need for students to take out loans and making changes so more families qualify for aid. And it will no longer count the first $200,000 of family assets in its needs formula.

Yale says this is the biggest boost to financial aid spending in its history. The school’s annual aid budget will rise by about $24 million to more than $80 million.

These changes are in place for students arriving on campus in the fall.

No doubt about it, higher education is on sale these days.

Harvard a month ago said it was overhauling its financial aid policy to attract more middle- and upper-middle-income students. At Harvard, families with incomes under $180,000 won’t pay more than 10 percent of their income for college. Some won’t pay anything at all. Harvard also is getting rid of student loans in its undergraduate aid packages.

Also last month, Duke University and the California Institute of Technology said they plan to eliminate loans for lower- and middle-income students.

More schools are expected to announce similar programs in the weeks ahead.

Of course, you still have to have the grades to get into these schools. But it’s about time they started cutting families a break on price. The cost of four years at a top school is more than most parents have saved for retirement. And retirement is expected to last 8 times longer than college.

But before we start giving out a college cheer, consider this sobering analysis by the Project on Student Debt’s executive director Robert Shireman.

“While Yale will cost significantly less for many students, it’s important for families to realize that a no-loan policy is not a no-cost policy, and that they may still end up borrowing in order to cover costs,” he says.

Plus: “Now that Yale and Harvard have increased financial aid for a wider range of incomes, there is a danger that other colleges will move their more limited financial aid dollars from lower income families toward higher income families in order to compete for top students,” Shireman says.

Let’s hope that schools don’t leave lower-income families behind.

Check out the Project on Student Debt for a list of schools that promise to reduce or eliminate loans for students.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 6:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: College/Financial aid