Scholarships

Here's a higher education shocker: Thanks to tuition hikes at California's state universities on one hand, and Ivy League financial aid policies on the other, attending Harvard is actually the better deal for the Golden State's middle-class students. And that's not just a West Coast phenomenon.

At EARTH University, students don't produce papers. They produce -- organically grown crops they harvest and sell -- along with other entrepreneurial agricultural products. Is this hands-on education in working the soil and changing the world a model for a better future.

College costs are rising, student loan debt is nearing $1 trillion, and money is still tight everywhere. So if you're a parents or a soon-to-matriculate student, you'll want to hear what the Princeton Review's Rob Franek has to say about the best value colleges of 2012.

Oct. 29 is the deadline for U.S. colleges to put "net price calculators" on their websites -- tools intended to estimate the real cost of attending for each specific student. But the most widely adopted calculator is inaccurate -- to the tune of thousands of dollars, experts say.

You thought it was your kid's SAT score that prevented him from getting admitted to the college of his dreams, but it may have been your credit score. More and more colleges are looking for students who can pay full tuition, and setting the admissions bar higher for those who need financial aid.

As the new school year begins, many parents' thoughts may be turning to a future of appallingly pricey college tuition payments. So we thought now would be a good time to tap an expert for advice on how to bring those costs down. Here's what we learned:

With college costs rising, it's more important than ever for students to be financially savvy. Here are 15 things you need to know to graduate with a bank account at the top of your class.

Is your child like my 13-year-old daughter who's dying to star on the Disney Channel? Or perhaps you've got a son or daughter who swears up and down he's the next Jay-Z or she's the next Beyonce-in-the making? He or she may have some true talent and probably thinks that winding up in Hollywood or...

The idea of need-blind admissions is noble: Offering qualified applicants admission to a university, regardless of their financial circumstances. But in too many cases, need-blind admissions mean young scholars are accepted to their dream schools under circumstances that would make attending financial suicide.

When you're hoping for some help to pay for college you'll be in the crosshairs of scam artists looking to take advantage of your vulnerability. Tuition assistance, in the form of scholarships, is not only hard to get -- but competition can be fierce when annual tuition bills can run upward of...