As any parent knows, helping your children get into the college of their choice is no picnic. But then comes what may be an even bigger headache: paying for it. And with tuition outpacing inflation, this will only get harder. Fortunately, with a little planning and patience, you and your children should be able to fund all four years (and maybe even grad school!) without going bankrupt.

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Teens constantly hear that a college education is necessary for a successful future. In 2008 nearly 69 percent of high school graduates went straight to college, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But what if your teen isn’t making any effort to join them?


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Although the idea of adult education was not new, Malcolm Knowles developed the theory of andragogy to explain how adults learn

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Most students choose to enroll in independent study because they have educational needs and interests not covered by the standard curriculum. Others may only need an additional credit or two to fulfill a requirement, and it's more economical to choose an independent course with variable credit hours than to enroll in an elective course costing twice as much. In some fields where internships are uncommon and thus not part of the course catalog, independent study can allow students to earn credit for hands-on career experience.

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If you are taking a biology course, at some point you will have to do lab experiments. This means that you will also have to complete biology lab reports.

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With the high cost of college education, any college applicant should try to win money for college expenses. From tuition scholarships to grants for books and supplies, extra money defrays the expense of obtaining a degree. Studies and statistics indicate college graduates make much more per year than those with only a high school diploma.

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A Career Development Loan (CDL) can be obtained to help with costs for a variety of courses aimed at giving you the experience and equipping you with the necessary skills, training and qualifications to either improve the skills you can offer in your current job or it can be the springboard from which you can launch a new career for yourself. CDLs are administered by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in conjunction with three high street banks - The Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and the Co-operative Bank and you can apply for one if you are employed, self-employed or even unemployed

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Once you have learned as much as you can about a preliminary list of colleges from indirect sources, you will find campus visits extremely helpful in narrowing your list further. Some students take a college tour to look at several colleges, usually with parents or with an organized group, during spring break in their junior year. A tour at that time has the advantage of letting you see schools while classes are in session and the campuses are fully alive. A visit usually includes an hour-long group information session led by an admissions officer, sometimes with a student participant as well, and a group tour led by a student tour guide. Both help you get a quick overview of a college and answer some questions you may have.

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The College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) has been a breakthrough for everyone looking to afford a higher education. There are two distinct components related to loan repayment: The first, discussed below, is Income-Based Repayment (IBR) that allows graduates to pay back their federal loans on a sliding scale based on their income. The second, discussed in last week's blog, is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), which provides forgiveness on federal educational loans for people who work in the public service sector for 10 years.

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Before going off to college many students begin to get worried and anxiously ask similar questions like “What’s it going to be like?”, “Will I make any friends?”, “Will it be hard?”, etc. They ask these questions because, like any sane people, they want to know as much as possible about what they are getting themselves into. They are going off by themselves for the first time into the great unknown so to help I’ve compiled a list of commonly asked questions about going off to college and their answers.

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