Forbes Article 01-21-13 Issue

[songman]

12 Insider Tricks To Pay For College - Forbes

[beolein]

Wow. What a terrible article. From merit aid being called an insider's trick to being told to go to work for the government for ten years before you get your real job just so you can have the rest of your student loans forgiven (even though most student loans last ten years in the first place).

[charlieschm]

These article can also mislead students about the number of full scholarships out there. They are few and far between. However, many private colleges offer merit aid to people at the top of their applicant pool, which brings their cost down close to the level of in-state flagship publics.

People also can be misled about the ease of transferring into a prestigious college from a community college.

Most colleges offer most of their aid to incoming freshmen, and offer little aid to transfer students. Therefore, there are times when it may actually be cheaper for a student to attend a college with a higher sticker price for 4 years with substantial aid, then to attend a cheaper college for 2 years and then to have to pay full sticker price for the last 2 years of a private college. The student is also much more likely to graduate on time if they stay at the same college.

[DougBetsy]

I cracked up when one of the tips said, "joined ROTC," as if it's easy and open to anyone who's willing.

OTOH, I didn't know about that mortgage trick. (Not that it would have been relevant in our case.)