College planning

Many parents with good financial means already know about 529 plans: the tax-advantaged plans “designed to encourage saving for future college costs,” sometimes known as “qualified tuition plans,” according to the website SEC.gov.

As tuition costs continue to rise at double the rate of inflation, parents are thinking more and more about how to help children afford college.

It’s that time of year again. Time for parents to pack the car and drive their children off to college. As college costs continue to increase faster than the rate of inflation, many parents will spend more than a quarter of a million dollars on one student’s education.

Be careful when you ask “Where are you going to college?” The answer could be carrying plenty of baggage.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal How Not to Blow it with Financial Aid  by J

It’s graduation season and the job market certainly looks challenging for the college class of 2012. In fact our labor market still limping along unable to fully recover from the recession already has left half of young college graduates either jobless or underemployed in positions that do not utilize their college degrees and knowledge.

PIMCO bond fund legend Bill Gross grabbed the spotlight a few weeks ago when he questioned the value of a college education in today’s economy.

According to Finaid.org more than $100 billion in federal education loans and $10 billion in private student loans are originated each year. Of course the terms of various loans can vary greatly.

Here’s a statistic that recently gave me pause:  45 percent of college students demonstrate no significant improvement in a range of skills including critical thinking complex reasoning and writing during their first two years of college.