In the last 20 years, tuition has increased by a factor of more than 200 percent, which is 3 times the increase in earned income of the average family. It takes from 25 to 30 percent of a family's yearly after tax earnings to pay for a single child's college education. Utilizing their access to college counseling, admissions, and financial aid professionals at colleges and universities across the country, this father and son team have developed a program to make paying for college manageable. They enlighten, motivate, and encourage students and their parents to follow a set of 10 principles designed to help families get a handle on saving and financing a college education. Their mission is to reassure and to help families of every income level and at every stage of preparation to plan a strategy for paying for college.

Howard R. Greene, M.A., M.Ed., a former admissions officer at Princeton, is the founder and president of Howard Greene and Associates. A graduate of Dartmouth College, with master’s degrees from Harvard and NYU, he has counseled thousands of students coauthored numerous books, and cohosted two PBS programs on college planning.

Matthew W. Greene, Ph.D., a graduate of Dartmouth College, holds his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is the coauthor of the Greene’s Guides to Educational Planning series and cohost of Ten Steps to College with the Greenes and Paying for College with the Greenes on PBS.

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(10)
Principle One: College is well worth the cost and sacrifices you might have to make. It is a valuable investment in your future.	11	(24)
Principle Two: Begin saving for college as early as possible, but it's never too late. Savings are key to all other financial assistance opportunities.	35	(26)
Principle Three: Good students will have good choices. Good grades in strong academic courses will create many opportunities for admission and for need-based and merit-based aid.	61	(16)
Principle Four: Do not let the costs of individual colleges limit your options. A majority of students do not pay the full tuition costs, and many of the most expensive colleges have the most generous financial aid programs.	77	(22)
Principle Five: Apply for financial aid, if you will need it, at the same time you apply for admission. Financial need will not affect your odds of acceptance in the greatest number of cases. Work with college financial aid officers as a helpful source of information and guidance. They are there to help you manage the costs of college and navigate the complexities of securing aid.	99	(30)
Principle Six: Make strategic use of the many information sources on need-based and merit-based scholarships available to you on the Internet, in the public library and bookstores, and from colleges. Be certain to meet with your high school guidance counselor and use the resources in your school's college counseling center.	129	(8)
Principle Seven: Applying to a broad-based group of colleges will create more opportunities to attend a college that suits you and one that you can afford.	137	(16)
Principle Eight: Consider your state's public university system. Look for tuition bargains, special honors programs, and transfer possibilities within the public system.	153	(12)
Principle Nine: Consider beginning a two-step college education by enrolling in an inexpensive two-year program that will lead to transfer to a four-year college. In addition to your achieving considerable savings for the first two years, many opportunities for admission and financial aid may be available for the next two years of your education.	165	(4)
Principle Ten: Understand and carefully evaluate your aid package from each college. Comparisons of the different awards can be significant in terms of outright grant money versus loans. Consider the long-term implications of taking on loans. Compare other possible conditions of each aid package: Is the scholarship renewable for four years? Is there a work component? Do you need to maintain a certain grade point average?	169	(34)
Conclusion	203	(4)
Paying for College Calendar	207	(6)
Glossary of Terms	213

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