Combine a slow economy with skyrocketing college and what do you get? One response is clearly the need for good planning when it comes to education funding.
With college cost increasing over 8% and the average college graduate owning over $25,000 in student debt just to land in a tough job market, planners are sure to asked for expertise on this topic more than ever.
How much is college really going to cost? Should I as a parent take loans 
or pull from my retirement accounts to help cover college cost? Can I expect any financial aid to be available to my child? Should my child takeout his or her own student loans?
What if a child has been accepted to a top tier school, which has much higher tuition rates than the alternatives? Is it worth the extra cost?
No doubt, this is an interesting question. How would you go about answering it? Certainly, an education from a top tier school is a dream for many parents and students alike and is understood to help fast track highly successful careers.
This article published on November 8th by Melissa Korn for the Wall Street Journal asks the question “Is an Ivy League Diploma Worth It?”
The article really does not answer the question it poses, but it’s certainly an interesting topic of discussion. I especially enjoyed reading the comments to the article. Readers bring up points relating to the value of an Ivy League education – like student to teacher ratios, type of degree and career pursued (if you want to be President, choose the Ivy League school), networking opportunities, and more.
Are you using the education module in your financial planning program? To help you keep up to date with the latest college costs, Silver Financial Planner’s College Cost Database, which includes in state, out of state and housing costs for most colleges and universities, has been updated for the 2011-2012 academic year. The next release of TOTAL Planning Suite will also include the updated college cost information.
