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This book can save you more than $100,000.
These days, most people assume you need to pay a boatload of money for a quality college education. As a result, students and their parents are willing to go into years of debt and potentially sabotage their entire financial futures just to get a fancy name on their diploma.
But Zac Bissonnette is walking proof that this assumption is not only false, but dangerous-a class con game designed to rip you off and doom your student to a post-graduation life of near poverty . From his unique double perspective-he's a personal finance expert (at Daily Finance) AND a current senior at the University of Massachusetts-Zac figured out how to get an outstanding education at a public college, without bankrupting his parents or taking on massive loans.
Armed with his personal knowledge, the latest data, and smart analysis, Zac takes on the sacred cows of the higher education establishment. He reveals why a lot of the conventional wisdom about choosing and financing college is not only wrong but hazardous to you and your child's financial future. You'll discover, for instance, that:
* Student loans are NOT a necessary evil. Ordinary middle class families can- and must-find ways to avoid them, even without scholarships.
* College "rankings" are useless-designed to sell magazines and generate hype. If you trust one of the major guides when picking a college, you face a potential financial disaster.
* The elite graduate programs accept lots of people with non-elite bachelors degrees. So do America's most selective employers. The name on a diploma ultimately won't help your child have a more successful career or earn more money.
Zac can prove every one of those bold assertions - and more. No matter what your current financial situation, he has a simple message for parents: "RELAX! Your kid will be able to get a champagne education on a beer budget!"
Foreword Andrew Tobias ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction The Four People You Meet When You Apply to College, and the Lies They Tell 1
Chapter 1 How Much Can You Afford, and Where Will You Get the Money? 19
Chapter 2 Student Loans and Stagnant Wages: A Dangerous Cocktail for Future Graduates 61
Chapter 3 Does It Really Matter Where You Go to College? The Solution to the College Funding Nightmare 98
Chapter 4 How to Make Any College an Ivy League College 149
Chapter 5 Why Large Public Universities Are Better Than Private Colleges 173
Chapter 6 The Community College Solution 194
Chapter 7 Make Money, Prepare for a Career 212
Chapter 8 How Your Child Can Save Money While He's in College 236
Chapter 9 Invest in College-Town Real Estate 251
Chapter 10 It's Not Just a Personal Finance issue: How to Solve the College Crisis 259
Conclusion 267
The Dos and Don'ts of Paying for College 271
Recommended Reading 273
Notes 277
Index 281
carbs_reader
Posted September 14, 2011
Finally someone willing to talk about the falacies many parents and students believe about college. Zac was interesting and not afraid to ask the reader to be challenged in their assumptions about paying for college.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 20, 2011
I read this for myself, even though I am an older student, but it won't be long until I have children in college as well. It was helpful on both counts. I don't want to saddle my family with loans and not be able to help my children go to school! We've definitley used the information in this book to come up with a plan for them. Now I need to work out a few details for myself, and we should all be able to graduate debt free! It was eye-opening. I loved it!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.1ja22
Posted December 11, 2010
If i had only known when first submitting FAFSA forms what Zac Bissonnette explains so clearly, I would have made better decisions.
Highly recommended for all college-bound students. Highly recommended for all parents of college-bound students. Best read when college-bound students are in middle school so family financial planning for college can really settle in and take effect.
Seema12
Posted November 8, 2010
This book is immensely helpful, especially when going through the college application process. It has opened my eyes to many unknown aspects of financing one's college education. This is a must read for high school students and parents.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anne99508
Posted November 1, 2010
Highly interesting read. He gets a bit heavy in a couple of places, but he has some super interesting statements and backs them up with numbers. As the parent to a Junior in High School, I would highly recommend reading this. Some very interesting ideas and worthwhile take-aways.
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Overview
This book can save you more than $100,000.
These days, most people assume you need to pay a boatload of money for a quality college education. As a result, students and their parents are willing to go into years of debt and potentially sabotage their entire financial futures just to get a fancy name on their diploma.
But Zac Bissonnette is walking proof that this assumption is not only false, but dangerous-a class con game designed to rip you ...