CSPN News

  • Holiday Savings?

    By Mary Anne Busse
    Managing Director, Great Disclosure LLC
    December 7, 2012

    During this season of spend, spend, spend, why don’t you focus on a crazy alternative – save, save, save? I know this is advice I could benefit from. Sometimes the focus on my daughter this time of year turns to obsession and I feel like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Jingle All the Way, desperate to get this year’s hottest toy. My 4 year old changes her letter to Santa every day. So, why do I race from store to store to get that thing she says she desperately needs when she’ll forget about it tomorrow?

  • THE STATE OF FINANCIAL AID

    (Part 2 in a Series on the College Board’s 2012 Trends in College Pricing & Trends in Student Aid)
    By Joan Marshall
    Executive Director, College Savings Plans of Maryland
    November 9, 2012

    I am often asked by parents about whether their college savings will reduce their children’s future financial aid. My initial response is that – with student loan debt today surpassing credit card debt – it is generally in a family’s best interests to save whatever amount they can afford for college in order to reduce or maybe even eliminate the need to take on burdensome levels of future student loan debt.

  • Trends in College Pricing

    (Part 1 in a Series on the College Board’s 2012)
    By Mary Anne Busse
    Managing Director, Great Disclosure LLC
    November 2, 2012

    The College Board recently came out with its 2012 Trends in College Pricing and it’s chock full of great information – some good news and some not so good news. According to the report, published prices for tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities increased 4.8%, the smallest since 2000‑01. For prospective college students, that’s great news! Unfortunately, the report also found that “the growth in published prices at public four-year institutions has been higher over the past decade (averaging 5.2% per year beyond inflation) than over either of the two preceding decades.”1

  • Don’t Get Spooked by College Costs

    By Jodi Golden
    Director, CollegeChoice 529 Savings Plans
    October 25, 2012

    It’s October so you know what that means – pumpkins, trick or treating, costumes and scary activities! For children, haunted houses and ghost stories from the past may scare them. Mom and Dad however, may be scared of the “what ifs” of the future: how will we save for retirement? Or for our children’s education? There are some scary tidbits out there: