It’s the most common question asked of college students: “What’s your major?”

You might be able to get away with responses like “I’m not sure,” or “I’m keeping my options open.” But eventually — thanks to your school’s academic rules, your parents’ incessant nagging or even your own impatience — you’ll have to make a choice.

Thousands of college students around the country go through the same anxiety-producing experience every year, often around mid-semester when they have to choose their courses for the following semester (and they’ve already taken all their general or core courses).

Are you in the “I have to pick a major — now what?” mode? If so, don’t panic. If you’re like many college students, the major you select won’t have a huge impact on your future career anyway. But even if it will, there are plenty of things you can do to help yourself make a sound decision.

Meet with a Campus Career Counselor.

Your school’s career counselors know your institution’s majors well, and they have a good general sense of where those majors might take you with respect to your career. Perhaps more importantly, though, many campus career centers keep detailed statistics on the types of jobs their schools’ graduates have landed with various majors. Typically, these statistics appear in the career center’s placement report, which you can ask for and then read to find out where different majors might take you in the future.

Read Your Undergraduate Bulletin and Related Publications.

Maybe you don’t need to actually read the entire undergraduate bulletin, but at the very least, page through it and look at all the majors available at your institution. You never know when you’ll stumble upon one that really fits your interests.

If browsing your institution’s undergraduate bulletin sounds far too boring, stop by your school’s admissions office and ask for briefer major-related publications that might be available.

Talk to Professors and Students in Various Majors.

Start by asking your friends and acquaintances what they’re majoring in and why. What do these students like and dislike about their majors? And what can they tell you about the courses in their majors and the careers their majors might lead to?

Similarly, ask professors in various academic departments to briefly describe their majors. Tell them you’re interested in learning more about what previous students in the department have gone on to do, career-wise. Professors will gladly tell you in most cases, if you ask.

Check Out “What Can I Do with a Major in ______?” Materials.

There are lots of ways to answer the question, “What can I do with a major in _______? “ You can use the Major to Career Converter tool to get an initial sense of which majors lead to which types of careers.

Dozens of major-related books are available to you as well, often at your school’s main library or your campus career center’s library.

Page through Guides to College Majors.

Several publishers have developed books that offer extensive descriptions of various college majors and what careers those majors might lead to. JIST, for instance, offers The College Majors Handbook, which features information (based on a survey of some 150,000 college graduates) on 60 different majors. Ferguson Publishing, meanwhile, offers College Majors and Careers, which also describes 60 majors in detail.

There’s no need to fly blind when it comes to researching and then choosing college major, especially in this day of the Internet and easily accessible information. The more you talk to knowledgeable people and read about various majors, especially those you know little or nothing about, the better chance you have of picking the one that best fits both your short-term needs and your long-term career goals.

Without a doubt, figuring out how to pay for college can be a pretty stressful experience. You might be considering a financial aid consultant to help you through the college cost maze. Financial aid consultants provide advice and services to make the financial aid process a little easier. But before you choose a consultant, there are some things you should consider.

When to Use a Financial Aid Consultant

Financial aid consultants can take the frustration out of filling out forms, but not everyone needs one. Use these tips to decide whether you really need an expert or whether you can solve your problems on your own.

Do get a financial aid consultant if you don’t have the time to fill out the FAFSA, are unfamiliar with financial terms or have special circumstances that make the FAFSA hard to complete. Applying for financial aid can be complicated, so if you’re pressed for time or are confused, an advisor can assist you. The advisor should also help you with the CSS/Profile.

Don’t get a financial aid advisor if you have the time or have a straightforward income situation.

Even if you find you need more assistance, don’t rush to hire a private consultant. Basic questions may be easily answered by any number of free services available to you. Start by checking at your school or local library to see if they offer free workshops on filling out the FAFSA. If you have specific questions, call the free Federal Student Aid hotline at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243 or TTY 1-800-730-8913).

 Don’t Get Taken for a Ride

If you choose to hire a financial aid consultant, find a qualified professional. To avoid getting stuck with a bad consultant,

• Call your campus financial aid office for their input. They probably won’t recommend a consultant, but they will tell you if they’ve had trouble with any consultant in particular.
• Consider the consultant’s qualifications. A consultant who has worked in a university financial aid office or is a Registered Financial Consultant will have more expertise than someone without that specialized training.
• “Find out how long they’ve been in the industry,” “Experience matters – you want to be sure you use the services of someone with breadth of knowledge and experience, especially with something as complex as financial aid administration.”
• Never use a consultant who encourages you to do something unethical. If you lie about your assets, you’ll end up paying a big fine – or in jail.

Be aware that some consultants charge reasonable fees ranging from $500 to $2000, while others charge anywhere from $2500 to $30,000. Advisors who charge big amounts will usually “promise” you the world and don’t deliver. The FAFSA is a free application. A financial aid consultant can charge a fee for helping you fill out the FAFSA, but you don’t have to use their services to apply for federal student aid. If you are just looking for help filling out the FAFSA, you should pay no more than $125.

Figuring out financial aid can be a headache, so it’s nice to know there’s help. But before you choose a financial aid consultant, get the facts and find out what they will do for you and your student.

“I realize now that I did it all wrong. I bought a small house I could afford, I worked hard and went to school nights so I could get a degree and make more money. I drove older model cars. I made my mortgage payments on-time and acquired equity in my home. I put money away for my retirement. and I was completely honest and forthcoming on my financial aid forms for my daughter. And for all that I’m told that after 12 years of working hard and getting my daughter into five of the top colleges in this country (including 2 Ivies), she gets ZERO dollars to attend the schools she got accepted to. We are not rich. My wife and I make just about $125,000 per year combined, so we take home only $90,000 or so a year. So now I am supposed to donate one-half of my take-home pay ($45,000+) so my daughter can go to college? Or let her enter life with $180,000 in loans? I actually had a financial aid officer at a major Catholic college just outside Boston tell me I could take a home equity loan, or stop my 401k contributions. And meanwhile, derelicts who sat around saving nothing, not working to better themselves, not paying their mortgages, and just accumulating debt and bad habits, end up getting a free ride. Our college system is BROKEN. We are on the verge of returning back to the days when only the very rich and the occasional sponsored poor family could go to college. Our top colleges have abandoned the middle class.”

This is the typical frustration that many high school seniors and their families went through this year. Do you have a high school sophomore or junior? If so, the above story may soon be your own! Don’t let this happen to you! There are many ways to deal with colleges on their price, but you have to know the procedures and guidelines to be successful. Contact our office as soon as possible to see if we can help you avoid being “abandoned” by the colleges you choose.

College Aid Offices Told By Department of Education To Give More Help

The Department of Education issued a statement to college financial aid officers around the country urging them to give more help to students from families suffering from the recession. The following is an excerpt from the statement:

“I am writing to remind you of the authority you, as a financial aid administrator, have under the law (section 479A of the Higher Education Act) to make adjustments, on the basis of adequate documentation, and on a case-by-case basis, to address circumstances not reflected in a student’s original Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This authority is particularly important for families who may be struggling during these difficult economic times. Simply stated, most of these families do not know about their right to request that you adjust one or more of the components that determine their eligibility for financial aid. I would ask you to reach out to your students (and prospective students), particularly those who seem to have hit a rough patch, to make sure that they know there may be ways that you can help.”

However, college officials warned that while they want to give more help to people who’ve recently lost their jobs, there still isn’t enough money to give every student what he or she feels is needed.

Want to try something new? Really new? That list of majors in the course catalog isn’t static. As technology advances and business evolves, fields of study that weren’t imagined or that may have been limited to a few specialized classes emerge as full-blown majors. Check out these 10 fields of study that hardly existed a decade ago.

1. New Media

Online media is one of the fastest growing areas of journalism. New media majors combine traditional journalism studies with courses on the design and management of digital media.

Some programs, like the new media program at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, concentrate on computer skills and design of online media. Other programs, like the one at Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis, integrate communications and digital skills.

2. Biotechnology

Biotechnology combines biology and technology to solve agricultural, food science and medical issues. It is an interdisciplinary field and is often combined with a business degree, like the joint degree program at Johns Hopkins University. Most biotechnology degrees are at the master’s level, yet bachelor’s degrees in biotechnology, like the one at Delaware State University, are starting to emerge as this field becomes more in demand.

Related fields include bioinformatics, biomedical engineering and biomedical engineering.

3. Organic agriculture

The first organic agriculture program in the U.S. began at Washington State University (WSU) in 2006. Demand for those knowledgeable in organic agriculture is growing. “Large corporations increasingly are interested in meeting the nation’s growing appetite for organic foods [and] are seeking employees who understand organic agriculture systems,” says a highly respected professor who does not wish to be identified.

This major is not widespread, but other institutions are looking into adding an organic agriculture degree program, including University of California, Davis. The University of Florida also launched an organic agriculture major in 2006.

4. Homeland security

New degree programs in homeland security have been established since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Homeland security majors study everything from psychology to disaster relief and federal law to handling hazardous materials. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers scholarships and fellowships for homeland security majors and runs an intensive 18-month degree program at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security.

Homeland security education is expanding rapidly at community colleges. Close to 85 percent of students trained in homeland security-related field’s graduate from community colleges, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.

5. E-Business/E-Marketing

This field focuses on buying, selling and marketing items on the Internet and may also include communicating with customers, employees and business partners. Demand for employees in this field is expected to grow faster than average, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Degree programs in e-marketing are usually in universities’ business schools and are more common at the graduate level. Some schools, like the University of Akron, offer bachelor’s programs in e-marketing, while others, like Missouri State University, offer a minor for business students.

6. Computer Game Design

Students playing video games in their dorm rooms can now avoid a lecture from their parents by majoring in computer game design. Computer game design programs were nearly nonexistent a decade ago. Today more than 150 colleges offer programs and courses in game design.

Some programs, like the computer games development program at DePaul University, focus on the programming of games while others, like the game art and design program at the Art Institute of Phoenix, concentrate on the visual design. Michigan State University is launching a Serious Game Design master’s degree program in the fall of 2007 for students with “a desire to create and study games which change the world.” The International Game Developers Association offers resources, including a scholarship, for students interested in game design.

7. Forensic accounting

The controversy surrounding recent corporate scandals has drawn attention to the expanding field of forensic accounting. While it has existed for many years, forensic accounting is now the fastest-growing field of accounting. Forensic accountants are like money detectives – they investigate suspected financial mishandling and assist in legal matters. Forensic accountants must have a broad understanding of business practices beyond standard accounting skills.

Bachelor’s degrees in forensic accounting, like the program offered at Franklin University, are required for most careers in this field. Students can also earn a master’s degree and post-graduate certificate through a program like the one at West Virginia University.

8. Human Computer Interaction

Human computer interaction (HCI) majors focus on designing ways to improve human experiences and work practices with technology. HCI investigates the impact of technology on individuals and organizations. While courses in this field have been offered since the 1960s, degree programs in HCI have been growing. Human computer interaction majors are usually located in schools of computer science, but studies are multidisciplinary.

Most HCI programs are at the graduate level, like the program at Iowa State University, but some, like the HCI program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, have a bachelor’s degree program.

9. Society and the Environment

Society and environment majors study the interactions between society and the environment. Degree programs in this field go by slightly different names, like Indiana University’s joint environmental science and public affairs degree and Columbia University’s climate and society program. Students in these majors apply social science theories to environmental issues. Most programs are at the master’s degree level, but programs like the one at UC-Berkeley offer undergraduate degrees as well.

10. Nanotechnology

Developments in technology have made it possible to control matter at smaller and smaller levels. The field of nanotechnology works with systems at the molecular level and can be applied across many different disciplines, including physics, engineering and chemistry. Interest in nanotechnology is growing and is being encouraged by the National Nanotechnology Initiative, organized in 1998.

Most nanotechnology programs are at the graduate level, but several programs provide a background in nanotechnology studies, like bachelor’s program in nano-systems engineering at Louisiana Tech University.

2.) Stay In Touch With Your Counselor. Selecting a college is not a one-step operation. In order to really help you make a decision, the counselor is going to need to get to know you. The only way for the counselor to do that is for you to take initiative and go meet with him or her. Also, most counselors are not just there for information. They really are truly counselors, and they are also there to help you with your decision, help you solve your crises, or to just calm you down when you’re really stressed out.

3.) Do Research. The way to begin the college process is to get online or crack some books and start discovering what’s out there. Use the resources in your counselor’s office. There are great websites such as www.myroad.com that, if you have taken the PSAT/NMSQT, are free opportunities to begin your college search. (On MyRoad, you start by taking a personality test. The site then generates a list of suggested majors and career possibilities, complete with a ranking system for how well they think this career will work for you. Then you can browse through their college index and find the right colleges with the right majors for you.) Visit www.makingitcount.com and take the My College Style and All About Me tests. Like MyRoad, these resources are free with registration, but these tools are not limited to students who have taken the PSAT. Don’t forget to research ways to pay for college by visiting sites like www.fastweb.com, a free scholarship search engine.

4.) Get Started Early. It’s never too early to start researching colleges, even if you don’t have a clue where to start. Just get out there and research something. Start now!

5.) Don’t Procrastinate. This is one of the greatest decisions you’ll ever make, and you could end up missing a great opportunity. You shrug this off like it could never happen, but it does happen all the time. Case in point: Last summer I toured a highly selective college near the nation’s capital and instantly fell in love. As the year progressed, and I applied to other colleges, it became apparent that it was very unlikely that I would ever go there, but I did keep the January 10th deadline in the back of my mind. However, at around 11:00 p.m. on Jan. 9th, when I hadn’t even looked at the application, I realized that I might have just let a great possibility slip through my fingers. I’ll be alright, since I might attend a military academy anyway, but there will always be that “what if?” factor at the back of my mind.

6.) Listen To Your Parents. I know you never do this (trust me, I’m like everybody else – I don’t want to either), but they’re there to help you. Having help makes it easier to handle all of this pressure and responsibility—and means you don’t have to handle it on your own. Also, remember that even though this is your future, your parents, in most cases, are the ones paying and the ones who got you where you are. They’re part of the decision too.

7.) Don’t Let Your Parents Do Your Work For You. They’re there to help you, but not to pick up your slack. The most they should ever do for you is research. Let them look up some information for you and go over it with you. It’s then your job to apply that information, fill out the forms, and write the essays yourself.

8.) Open Up Your Mind. Talk to reps of colleges you’ve never heard of. Don’t be fooled by big names and Ivy Leagues. There are so many more great opportunities out there. IN ORDER TO FIND THE PERFECT PLACE FOR YOU, YOU WILL HAVE TO OPEN UP YOUR MIND.

9.) Visit, And Visit Early. How can you make such a huge decision without ever having seen the college? You could fall in love with Hendrix College in Arkansas, even after thinking “no way” when someone told you what state it was in. Or, you could get up to Boston and realize that Harvard is way too uptight for your taste. You have to experience colleges first hand. If you can’t visit, getting good information is critical to making the right decision for you.

10.) Don’t Let The Pressure Get To You. Yes, this is a big decision, but it’s not the end of the world if you make a mistake. People transfer and switch majors much more often than you think. There’s still plenty of time for all of you to find the right place for you. Just keep your options open and always have a back up plan. With a little effort on your part, things will work themselves out for the best.

Ask Yourself

If you foresee yourself logging a lot of hours over the summer, it makes sense to do it in an environment you enjoy. Ask yourself some of these questions as you consider summer work:

• Do you have any financial or personal goals you’d like to achieve?
• Do you prefer to work autonomously or as part of a team?
• Would you prefer to work indoors or outdoors?
• Do you enjoy interacting with the public?
• What sort of jobs have your friends or siblings held? What did they like or dislike about them?
• What special skills and talents do you have?

After you’ve thought about a work environment that fits your personality you’ll have a better handle on what type of work will be right for you. You might not find a job that fits your criteria precisely, but you should find something that has qualities that are important to you. 

The Best Jobs

Landscaper, receptionist, cashier, waitress and librarian were just a few of the jobs website users contributed when asked to submit their best summer job. While the types of jobs varied, students’ attitudes about the jobs shared some common traits. The people working them enjoyed the environment, liked their coworkers and loved what they were doing. 

Alexandra Colella enjoyed working as a lifeguard at a country club. She says, “Working outside at the pool was great. Not only did I get a great tan, I also met a lot of interesting people. You get paid higher than minimum wage because of the responsibility the job holds, yet you have fun while working.” 

For Janice Delmonte, her summer job at a jewelry store was the best. “It was like experiencing Christmas everyday. I loved helping people find new jewelry for different occasions,” she says. 

Kevin Murphy spent volunteering at a children’s day camp helped him realize that he “was great with working with kids,” he says. That helped drive his decision to pursue a career as a pediatrician, something he’ll start when he enrolls at the University of North Carolina.

The Worst Jobs 

For all of the positive work experiences out there, many students have had the agony of working a terrible job. Bad jobs aren’t just about low pay, long hours, mind numbing boredom or tyrannical bosses. Some jobs are downright dangerous for unqualified or underage workers.

On their web site, the National Consumers League (NCL) lists the five worst teen jobs. This list is compiled through surveys, news reports and government statistics. According to the NCL the five worst teen jobs are: 

1. Agricultural Fieldwork and Processing. Due to the number of injuries caused by farm machinery, animals, chemicals and other risks, agricultural work is the most dangerous industry for young workers. 

2. Construction and Work at Heights. Construction sites are filled with hazards and according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, “youth 15-17 years of age working in construction had greater than seven times the risk for fatal injury as youth in other industries.” 

3. Outside Helper: Landscaping, Grounds keeping and Lawn Service. Outside helpers work with dangerous hand tools and chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers which can cause injuries. 

4. Driver/Operator: Forklifts, Tractors and ATVs. Drivers are at risk of vehicle rollovers, being struck by a vehicle, being pinned by a forklift, and other hazards. 

5. Traveling Youth Crews. Often unsupervised, these crews travel to unfamiliar neighborhoods to sell candy and magazine subscriptions door-to-door.

Keep in mind there is nothing inherently negative about these jobs — they have been categorized as “worst” because of safety factors only. If you are one of the thousands of teens that already holds one of these jobs, we would encourage you to do what you can to make sure you are properly supervised and to stay safe at work!

The Right Fit  

Summer jobs generate cash-flow, work experience and good memories for young students every summer. Look for positions in safe environments where workers are properly trained. Beyond that, consider your own personality and tastes to find summer work that keeps you happy.

No Career Goal in Mind

Some people ask if they should go into business, architecture, IT or some other field. What they are really asking is: Is this field secure and lucrative? But they haven’t said anything about their desires and strengths, and while they may have enough interest in the field to suggest it, they haven’t researched the career possibilities.

Not Considering Your Interests

When considering a field, look into the careers available and be honest with yourself about your interests. You should do a thorough examination of your work style, the subjects that interest you, the restrictions and demands of various careers, your lifestyle expectations and the long-term health of the industry you are choosing. Identifying a career goal provides focus and will inform your choice of educational options.

What’s Hot? Not!

If you employ a jump-on-the-bandwagon approach to career planning, be prepared to hate your next job within a year. Taking a job for a time because you have to pay the mortgage is perfectly understandable, but if you have to spend time and money to get a degree, certification or license for that job, stop and think. It makes no sense to invest money and energy in a career path you’ll want to abandon in a year.

Not Using Your Network

Career and education choices are big decisions, but you’re not the first person to make them. Many people — people you know or can talk with — have had to make similar decisions. Take advantage of their knowledge and experience:

• Current and Former Colleagues: If you seek to advance your current career, you are literally surrounded by experts.
• Your College: If you earned a degree, you may have also earned a lifetime supply of advice and contacts. Investigate your school’s alumni and career services via the Web or phone. Search for information on other alumni in particular fields of interest, or ask about talking to a career counselor.
• Your Professional Associations: If you don’t belong to one, join one. Go to meetings and talk to the people in your field of choice. They have probably encountered the choices you face.
• Your Personal Contacts: Are you an admin assistant who longs to become a chef? Email everyone you know and ask if they know a chef. Don’t be surprised if your best friend’s aunt’s next-door neighbor is head chef at some hot restaurant. Be sure to follow up.
• You’re Prospective Education Provider: These folks are biased, of course, but use admissions department resources to find out about programs and their success in preparing professionals for the workforce.

Too Narrow a Focus

Some people are so focused on getting a specific credential or degree to add to their resume that they fail to consider longer-term education needs. Do some research to find out what you don’t know and what you will next need to learn?

Seeing Only a Piece

With so many different learning experiences available, it can be hard to make comparisons. When comparing a traditional degree to an online degree, for example, list the components: course requirements, time commitment, resources available, costs, and reputation and lifestyle implications. Know all your needs and what you are paying for before choosing.

Making education decisions is always difficult. But don’t scrimp on the research that should go into the decision. Avoiding these six missteps will save you time and money, and help you secure the most productive and interesting education possible.

1. The number of course requirements

Course requirements vary widely from school to school. You don’t want to find yourself mired in courses that don’t interest you, while you’re unable to take electives in the areas that do interest you.

2. The flexibility of course requirements

Schools that require specific courses can put you in a bind if you’d rather take more advanced courses, or if you need to take more remedial courses, to fulfill that requirement. Be sure to check that the school allows a choice of course levels to satisfy the various requirements. Also, keep in mind that many top professors avoid teaching required courses that route hundreds of students through the course.

3. The availability of your college major

Never assume that your college of choice offers every possible major, especially if you have a very specialized major in mind. It’s critical to check the list of majors at each college. At certain colleges, some majors are not open to all students, especially those majors that require talent or training (music or art), or those majors that are extremely popular (psychology or journalism).

4. The availability of your desired classes

In the past few years; college enrollments have risen, but the faculty size has not grown commensurately. As a result, there may be very long wait lists for some classes and shortages in first-year classes for students who did not register on the first possible date. Be sure to check the availability of your desired courses before sending in your acceptance letter to the college.

5. The availability of professors teaching the course

At many state universities, a significant number of instructors are graduate students. It’s important to know how much of your instruction, especially in the first years of college, will be designated to graduate student teachers. It’s ok if a regular professor gives the lectures and the grad student leads discussion sections; however, the real issue arises at schools where grad students are allowed to teach entire courses on their own.

6. The student/faculty ratio

If you attend a school with 10 to 20 students per faculty member, you’re likely to get a lot of individual attention from the faculty. Once the number of students per faculty member goes above 20, you may not get much hand-holding from a professor.

7. The percentage of students who graduate

A school with a graduation rate over 80 percent is good and a graduation rate of 60 to 80 percent is quite normal; however, a school whose gradation rate is under 60 percent is not good. Also check out the average time a student takes to receive a degree. You may want to avoid schools whose students take an average of six to seven years to graduate.

8. The quality of the career placement department

Very few students even think to ask about the career placement department, but this should be a key item on your checklist assuming the student would like to graduate with a job. Students should ask questions such as, what job placement services are provided by the placement office, what percentage of graduates will be employed prior to graduation, and which companies and organizations recruit your graduates?

9. Are you required to take computer–taught or on line classes

To save money, some colleges use computer programs for course instruction, or have their lectures posted online, rather than use live instructors. It’s the new do-it-yourself method of instruction, which may not be the best learning experience for the student.

10. The total cost of college

If you plan to attend college then you should know up front what the total cost of college will be to get a degree. The student should also research any opportunities to receive financial aid to help offset that total cost. You will need to find the answers to questions such as, how does the college financially reward a good student, what forms are used by the college to determine financial aid eligibility, what non-need or merit grants and scholarships are available from the college, and what is the average debt incurred by each student upon graduation?

How can a student get this much needed information from the various colleges? Check out the college guides and the college websites themselves. Ask admissions officers, students, and recent graduates of the schools. Send e-mails to the appropriate college contacts. Regardless of how you get this information, it is very important in order to make the best possible college choice and get the most out of your college experience.

The author of this newsletter is Chuck Reilly.

If you have any questions about the information contained in this newsletter, or any questions about college funding in general, please contact our office.

Most colleges continue to raise their tuition because there is less money being given to support higher education from the state and federal governments. As a result, more students must turn to loans as a major source of funding for college. Yet, taking on the responsibility of an $80,000 or $150,000 loan is very difficult for most lower– to middle– class families who are already strapped for cash.

However, if you are the parent of a college bound student, the cost of college may not be the biggest financial issue you face today. You could be missing the big picture! Consider these facts:

• The youngest baby boomer is now 45
• The oldest baby boomer is now 63
• The average age of parents with college bound kids is 40-45 years old

Now fast-forward 20 years down the road when today’s parents with college bound kids are 60-65 and they want to retire. At that time the majority of Boomers will be 70-80 years old. Consider this:

• Will you still be paying off education loans over the next 20 years?
• Will college costs keep you from adequately funding your retirement?
• Will Uncle Sam need to tax your 401(k) at higher rates to cover the older Boomer’s old age benefits?
• Will you have enough money to outlast inflation if you live to age 90?

These are all tough questions to face in this tough economy. If you are a parent facing the college vs. retirement dilemma, you really should take the time to put some simple numbers together - to see if college costs will force you into a lower standard of living during retirement. If these numbers don’t add up because your current retirement fund has taken a hit this last year, then you need to seriously think about building a new retirement plan now, with college expenses built into it. Give us a call. We can help!

Private Colleges Must Work Harder To Lure New Students

This down economy finds many private colleges working harder to fill their freshman classes. A $50,000 per year private school tuition – even for such a prestigious school as say Carnegie Mellon – is a harder sell to students who may also have the option of paying less than half that to go to a prestigious state school. As a result, private school leaders are worried about declining enrollment and are making new efforts to help students whose families otherwise might not be able to afford tuition because of the recession.

Schools with a recognizable brand name and a big endowment, like Harvard or Yale, can offer free or heavily discounted tuition. But the challenge is much greater for smaller schools without the big endowments. Last year, many of these smaller schools had to sweeten their offers of financial aid. Some schools have already frozen tuition for next year and increased aid at the same time. If you are a high school junior who plans to attend college in the near future, do not rule out private colleges because of cost. You may be pleasantly surprised that some private schools will offer better deals than public schools for the school year 2010-2011.

The author of this newsletter is Chuck Reilly.

If you have any questions about the information contained in this newsletter, or any questions about college funding in general, please contact our office.

An Uncommon Job

An RA is usually in charge of a floor or a wing of residents. Their responsibilities include:

• Helping out with the personal and academic concerns of the students on their floor.
• Serving as a facilitator to build a community among floor residents by initiating and organizing floor activities.
• Providing information about the campus and residence hall.
• Making the dorm floor a fun and safe place to live.

“It’s a 24-hour-a-day job,” says Amanda Pierce, who was an RA for two years at New York University. Resident assistants are on call around the clock. As an RA, you can expect to hear from residents at seven o’clock in the morning because they’re nervous about an upcoming test, or late at night because they got locked out of their room.

And there’s nothing like an everyday routine when you’re an RA. “You should always expect the unexpected,” Pierce says.

Qualifications

Serving as an RA requires responsibility and organization. To ensure candidates are up to the challenge, offices of residential life require certain criteria for selection:

• You must have a certain grade point average or be in good academic standing.
• You must be at least a sophomore or in your second year of college.
• You can’t be on any type of judicial probation.
• Outside jobs usually aren’t permitted.

“Above all, you should have great listening and time-management skills,” Amanda says.

An RA’s Rewards

Resident Assistants are usually hired for the academic year (nine months). Free housing on the dorm floor and free meals in the dorm cafeteria are typical job perks.

“But you get a lot more out of it than just the free room and board,” Pierce says. “The personal growth and development you gain can help you in college and beyond.” As an RA, you can get a lot of experiences that future employers are looking for, such as:

• Involvement with a wide range of staff and students.
• Experience in program presentation and event planning.
• Training in many areas, including conflict mediation and diversity awareness.
• Growth of leadership skills and style.
• Development of administrative skills and time management techniques.

“I loved being an RA, it was a lot of work, but the payback was worth it. It allowed me to meet people, build relationships and develop myself as a person in a way no other job could have.”

If you’re interested in being an RA, check with your Resident Advisor or Residential Life office and find out how you can get more out of your college housing experience.