College Admissions: Higher (Priced) Education

Don’t sabotage your kid’s future.
Look hard at the numbers before you let your child sign up for loans. What seems like a simple button-click today could affect his options (and happiness) far into the future. And be wary of for-profit colleges, which offer what’s been called “a credit card for higher education”—and have loan-default rates of 40 percent. Congress recently announced increased scrutiny of the for-profits’ lending practices, and with reason; they got $24 billion in federal loans and grants last year.

Think outside the box.
Community colleges are a terrific value, letting students take starter courses at -bargain-basement rates, then transfer as juniors to four-year colleges. You’ll save almost half the cost of a four-year stint at your child’s final school.