In a story that broke on the US News & World Report Web site over the weekend, and in the print version of the magazine on the street today, reporter Kim Clarke takes a close look at campus health insurance as one of the many hidden costs of college.  The article is available online.

Please share your thoughts on campus health centers by writing your own personal (and it can be anonymous) comment below.

Harvard’s December 2007 announcement that it intends to provide more financial aid for the middle class has caused many less wealthy colleges to squirm, as they worry that it will impossible for them to “match” Harvard’s largesse. I believe that colleges can address this issue by examining more closely their own cost structures, and by learning to do more with less. Clearly, something must be done to stop the college cost spiral from continuing to go up and eventually out of control. Do you agree? Please Share Your Thoughts on How Colleges Can Cut Costs in Order to Hold Down the Prices They Charge by leaving a comment below. Thank you for your continuing interest in College Parents of America, the nation’s only membership organization for current and future parents. Our mission is to empower you to best support your children on the path to and through college.

Love it or hate it, any family hoping to secure federal financial aid for their child must fill out what is known as the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Please share with your fellow parents your war stories regarding the FAFSA. These stories can involve your experience in working with the form itself, or your reaction when you learned how much federal student aid you were eligible for as a family. Go ahead, don’t be shy, it’s anonymous as you only must provide your first name. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the FAFSA now. Thank you for your interest in and support of College Parents of America.

Once again, the U.S. Congress is about to let expire one of the few family friendly policies of the federal government when it comes to paying for college. Tuition tax deductibility is utilized by hundreds of thousands of taxpayers and provides at least some relief toward the soaring cost of college. Unless Congress acts, however, tuition tax deductibility will expire as part of a sunset provision that will kick in on New Year’s Eve - Monday, December 31, 2007. Please leave a comment below and share your views on the importance of Tuition Tax Deductibility and please also sign our online petition to keep this deduction in place. Thank you in advance for sharing your views and for helping to keep this deduction in place for you and your fellow taxpayers who are current and future college parents.

College presidents are sometimes leading billion-dollar enterprises, with budgets equal to some of America’s largest corporations, so certainly an argument can be made that their pay might be commensurate with private-sector peers who have significant profit and loss responsibility.  College Parents of America James A. Boyle doesn’t believe that college presidents should take a vow of poverty, but neither should they take a vow of silence.  He encourages all college presidents, public and private, to make their salaries and the entire budget of their universities open for all to see.  He believes that since this transparency is expected of corporate America, it should also be expected of higher education in America.  Please leave a comment below and share your views on the pay of college presidents.