Should your college aged child have a credit card?

My answer is YES, if you believe you have taught your child how to be financially responsible. This is not an easy task - let's face it, most adults don't use credit cards properly, evidenced by the incredible level of credit card debt in our country.

But, let's change that and help our children do it the right way. You can establish some good rules for using a credit card and then choose credit cards that offer some advantage to cardholders.

Here's an article with some helpful suggestions:

http://www.moneybluebook.com/the-best-reward-credit-cards-for-college-and-graduate-students-to-learn-credit-responsibility/

Davenport, IA sets a fabulous example!

A special community meeting on Friday shared the Davenport Promise Proposal with area residents. If approved by the city council and voters, the city would cover the tuition expenses for 2 years of community college and two years of a university, in or out of state. They indicated that the plan would be funded by the city's existing local option sales tax.

If you live in Davenport this is a great reason for you to get involved in local politics. This program is a real coup for the community and the development of it's students.

Read more at
http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=7467347&nav=menu132_2

Parents of high school seniors!!!!

Dear Parents,

I know this is the holiday season and everyone is busy. However, your high school senior, who is about to turn the calendar to the year in which they graduate from high shool, might need some supportive encouragement from you right now.

Here are a few tips:
1. Make sure they apply to at least 4 schools. Even if they have their sights set on just one school, help them find a couple of other schools that require the least amount of work to apply (not too many essays). Make sure you make a list of these schools so that when you submit the FAFSA you can include all of them.

This should result in multiple financial aid award letters. Then, when you get the letter from the top choice school, you can see if you are happy with their financial aid award. If not, you can use the award letters from the other schools to help them understand that they need to increase their award in order to attract your child. The majorit of the time this will increase your award.

And let's face it, even if it only increases the award by $2,000 guess what you just did. All things remaining the same you just saved $2,000 times 4 years of college = $8,000. Congratulations.

2. Remember to send the SAT/ACT scores to each of those schools, as well. You want to make sure your appliation is complete.

3. Make a list of the things you need to do to finish the college applications. Make sure that you have a clear summary including when the financial aid is due as well as any other documents the school requires. This is very important for the parents becuase you are the one who is going to have to do the bulk of the FAFSA preparation. You certainly don't want to miss that!

4. Follow up with those who you have asked to write recommendations to double check that they have been completed. ALSO - it would be a really nice step to write each one of them a thank you note.

Adults returning to school should read this

Here's a great article for you ify ou are considering going back to school to change careers.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/careers/2007/12/04/how-to-finance-a-midcareer-move.html

That FAFSA that every undergraduate needs to submit to be considered for financial aid also works for you.

Let's face it, school is expensive and you will probably have to take loans to pay the bill. But, as the article says, if you can get the government loan that could dramatically reduce the total cost for you. The best loan is the SUBSIDIZED Stafford Loan. To qualify for that loan you need to have demonstrated financial need, based on the government calculations.

The sweet part of the Subsidized Stafford Loan is that you have no payments while you are at least a half time student (defined by number of credits taken) PLUS no interest accrues while you are in school! The repayment and interest charges don't begin until 6 months after you are out of shool.

Please note there are also many scholarships available for adults returning to school. Make sure to check with your employer, too.

Since this decision is an expensive one, you might like to try out your new profession as a volunteer for a week. I week's vacation is much less expensive than debt and no income while attending school and looking for a new job.

Good Luck.

You can go to Harvard for free. Here's how:

Obviously the first BIG challenge is getting in - but if you have the qualifications, i.e. excellent student, lots of leadership positions in quality organizations, maybe incredible sports accomplishments, or some other unique characteristic - this is amazing to consider.

Harvard has been working hard to make their education affordable to the masses. In 2004 they offered significant tuition aid incentives to families earning less than $40,000 per year. Then in 2006 they expanded the program and "parents in families with incomes of less than $60,000 will no longer be expected to contribute to the cost of their children attending Harvard." from
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/daily/2006/03/30-finaid.html

Just as important is their commitment to lowering the average debt level of graduating undergraduates. "In the past decade, Harvard has reduced the median four-year debt for graduating seniors from more than $16,000 to $6,400 - less than one-third of the national average of $20,000."

This is very good news for those who qualify for an ivy league school.

If your parents are divorced:

Here is a great article from Kiplinger's. As it explains, the parent who files the FAFSA is the custodial parent. Hopefully this is the parent who has the lowest annual income so that you qualify for the highest amount of financial aid. Remember that child support and alimony must be considered when completing the FAFSA.

http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/ask/archive/2007/q1203.htm

The custodial parent is defined as the parent with whom the child spent the majority of the 12 months immediately prior to completing the FAFSA, not the prior calendar year. It is not dependent upon who claimed the child as a dependent on their tax return as that is recognized as a voluntary act and not the definitive conclusion for determining the custodial relationship.

Be aware that FAFSAs submitted by mothers will be suspect of fraud if alimony is not included. You would think this would be changing by now, but apparently it is still something that financial aid offices can easily detect.

Does your major determine your tuition bill?

Some colleges are now charging higher tuition for majors that support higher paying careers! Make sure you ask about this practice at the colleges you visit.

http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2007/bs2007124_770986.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_businessweek+exclusives