Right about now, thousands of kids around our nation are taking SAT exams and applying to college. Thousands more are doing neither, their eyes set on vocational schools or local community colleges. In both cases, I think students need to take a good look at themselves, what they want to do, and decide which path will best take them towards their goals.

When I look back at the last ten years, I’m amazed at the path my career has taken. I went to college because “that’s what you did after high school.” I graduated into a horrible tech job market, went into graduate school and I was able to secure a job in the defense industry working software projects a year later. Two companies and five years later, I find myself doing what I do now – personal finance blogging. Crazy huh? Very little that I did academically or professionally, in the last eight years, prepared me for what might eventually be the career that takes me into retirement.

If you want to do one thing to ensure your future success and happiness, it’s finding a career that’s right for you. Once you’ve decided on the career, knowing full well it could change a half dozen times before you get it right, the next step is to find the right school. After seeing this CNN Money piece on the most expensive colleges (Sarah Lawrence College is over $55,000 a year!), it should be clear that not everyone should be going to college… and that’s OK.

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The troubled global economy isn’t producing good statistics in any sector and some of these statistics are painting college as a less than attractive expense for many families. Although college still remains the best way to thrive financially, making highly informed, detail oriented decisions is even more important. Gone are the days when parents send their children to the college of their choice with very little discussion of cost. The value gained by a college education is in danger of being severely offset by rising costs and lowering wages.

Take a four year public school like Florida State University. For a resident of Florida, the cost of room, board, books and supplies comes out to $11,000 per year. With tuition increase and other expenses, the four year cost would come out to approximately $53,000. A private school such as Princeton University will cost $175,000 for a four year degree. The average scholarship amount of a Princeton student who qualifies for a needs based scholarships is $24,000 per year while Florida State students receive an average of $5,000. There’s a big difference between these schools but the costs don’t stop there.

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One of the best ways for your teens to help prepare themselves to pay the costs of a college education is to get a scholarship. As you and your teen prepare for college, it is important to cultivate different options for paying, from contributing to a 529 plan or some other investment account, to student loans, to free money. A scholarship can be a great way to get free money that can be used to defray the rising costs of a college degree.

However, it is important to note that scholarships, for the most part, don’t just come right to you. Your teen will need to start now to prepare to be eligible for a scholarship. If your teen plans now, works hard, and does his or her best to improve in certain areas, it is possible to earn a scholarship. Here are some things your teen can do now to increase the chances of receiving a little free money:
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These lists are fun to read but I never take them too seriously because how much someone is paid depends on so many factors, their alma mater included. That said, it’s still interesting to see who gets the top spots and this year the highest paid, as measured by both mid-career median salary and starting median salary, isn’t an Ivy League university and has an undergraduate enrollment of under 800.

1. Harvey Mudd College: Mid-career median salary of $126,000 and a starting median salary of $68,900. 757 undergraduate enrollment with a 2010-2011 tuition of over forty thousand dollars.
2. Princeton University: Mid-career median salary of $123,000, starting median salary of $58,900. Tuition of $36,640.
3. Dartmouth University: Mid-career median salary of $123,000, starting median salary of $54,100. Tuition of $40,437.
4. Harvard University: Mid-career median salary of $121,000, starting median salary of $57,300. Tuition of $38,416.
5. California Institute of Technology: Mid-career median salary of $120,000, starting median salary of $69,900. Tuition of $36,282.

Sixth through eighth were MIT, Stanford, and Colgate, in that order.

Colleges That Bring the Highest Paycheck 2011 [CNBC]

I’ve been fortunate that most of my local friends have not been affected by the economic downturn. I’m especially fortunate because I have not been affected by the economic downturn. While the companies we work at have downsized, for the most part, we’ve all escaped unscathed in what’s clearly the worse economic decline in our lifetime. It’s difficult to explain why we were so fortunate, many of my friends work in defense which is practically hallowed ground in times of war, but I saw a chart last week that might explain it:

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Can you guess what the best undergraduate college degree is? What about the top ten? If you answer didn’t have “engineering” in it somewhere, chances are you’re wrong. Pick any type of engineering and you’re almost guaranteed you’ll hit something that will get you above or close to six figures by “mid-career,” defined as 15 years of experience. Start at $60,000, get 15 years of 4% raises, and you’ll pierce $100,000 (though your purchasing power will be reduced by inflation, something to consider).

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A few weeks ago I asked newsletter subscribers to email me with the things that concerned them. Many readers told me that the cost of higher education, specifically the college and university level, and their student loans were some of the things on their mind.

A few years ago, I wrote about how my sister took advantage of a student loan forgiveness program for teachers. It’s a great program if you can participate because it helps the (former) student and it helps society as a whole by putting incentives and compensation more in line with the work performed. Today, I wanted to discuss the Income-based Repayment plan created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. It only became available/effective on July 1 of 2009.

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The world has known about free online courses like MIT OpenCourseWare and Open University (for a longer list, check the end of my foundation post about online education). Until today, I wasn’t aware of any university that has offered personal finance courses and certainly not one that has put it all on the web for anyone to use!

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