A new online resource debuted last week to showcase one college savings option for future students and their parents, U.S. News reports. On TomorrowsTuitionToday.org, users can learn about the Private College 529 Plan, a savings vehicle that allows account holders to purchase prepaid tuition certificates to one of 270 (and counting) private colleges, including Brandeis University, Claremont McKenna College, and Wake Forest University. Parents who can bundle away $2,000 now, for example, are effectively purchasing $2,000 worth of today’s tuition at one of the participating private colleges, no matter when they claim it. Unlike in state-sponsored prepaid tuition plans, which are guaranteed only if state budgets remain fully funded, the private schools pledge to accept the tuition certificates purchased when tuition was lower. Opening a Private College 529 Plan does not guarantee admission to any of the participating schools; in fact, colleges do not give special consideration to account holders during the admissions process, says Nancy Farmer, president and chief executive officer of the Tuition Plan Consortium, which oversees the Private College 529 Plan…
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Private college tuition growth slows
It’s what passes for good news on college costs these days: Private colleges and universities increased tuition 3.9 percent this fall, a rate well above overall inflation but the smallest increase in at least four decades, and substantially lower than prices have been rising at public universities, the Associated Press reports. The figures released Thursday by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities highlight some of the complexities within an overall trend of rising college costs. The list price at private colleges remains substantially higher than at publics – $29,230 this fall compared to a bit over $8,000 last year at public institutions (neither figure includes room and board). But private colleges, which enroll about a quarter of four-year college students, typically also award more financial aid…
…Read MoreCollege offers top applicants two-thirds off
For students with their sights set on a private college, the anxiety comes as a one-two punch: first from competing with thousands of others for a precious few spots, then from trying to scrape together up to $50,000 a year to foot the bill, reports the New York Times. Starting next year, Seton Hall University will try to ease that follow-up blow for early applicants with strong academic credentials, giving them two-thirds off the regular sticker price for tuition, a discount of some $21,000…
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