A college degree can easily cost over $100,000 with room and board. Is this cost worth it? This is a decision that parents and high school students have to decide. The trick is to finish college and to find a job that can repay the cost of a college tuition quickly.


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Your employer may provide you with up to $5,250 in employer education assistance benefits for undergraduate or graduate courses tax-free each year. The benefits must have been paid for tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment. In certain circumstances payments above $5,250 may also be tax-free.


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The ways in which many college kids meet potential partners are changing, and this alone can be stressful for students. It would be nice if your son fell for his physics lab partner and spent his evenings at the library with her doing homework together, but that's not the way it usually happens in the college dating scene. Today many students are clubbing, taking drugs like Ecstasy, going on spontaneous "booty runs" (sex dates), and partying until dawn.


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Want to get your degree in 3 years? It's not a choice that's available to everyone, but if you can make it work, it's a fantastic way to save 25% or more of college costs and possibly get a head start on grad school or other post-grad options.

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Unusual scholarships can help you pay for college, but unusual awards aren't easy money.

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Wise students distribute their college choices among three categories based on likelihood of admission. The first category is good-bet colleges, includes those where you are almost certain to be admitted. The next category is possible colleges which involves chances that can range from fairly likely to fifty-fifty to not too likely. It is the broadest of the categories. The final category is called long-shot colleges which includes those where the college’s acceptance rate in conjunction with your own record makes admission unlikely but not impossible. These three categories correspond to popular terminology with which you may be more familiar: safety, target, and reach colleges. The terms—good-bet, possible, and long-shot colleges—more accurately capture the objective reality of admissions, rather than the scale of your hopes. Whatever the language used, the issue is selectivity, not quality. The problem is in confusing the two. Just because a school is a long shot doesn’t necessarily mean it is desirable for you. It is just popular and hard to get into.

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The SAT is offered seven times during the school year: October, November, December, January, March, May, and June. It is generally a good idea for a student to take it for the first time in the second half of the junior year; January, March, and May are good dates. You can register for it very easily online at www.collegeboard .com by using a credit card for a fee of $45. Fee waivers are available through high school counseling offices for low-income students who cannot afford the cost. The test is offered at many sites, mostly at large public and parochial schools, but the sites vary on different dates. Details are available online on the College Board Web site and in the printed registration booklet. Some test sites fill up quickly, so it is good to plan ahead and register early to get the site of your choice, without having to drive a long distance to take the test.

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Reading is not a difficult task especially if you have the general knowledge on how to read effectively. However, there comes a time when you may be presented with a difficult passage or book to read, and having only the primary reading knowledge may not be very helpful here.

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It's no secret that the college essay portion of an application can make or break your chances of gaining admission. So, it makes sense to take a look at a few sample college essays to see if you are on the right track.

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