Even way back last August, before the economy was officially in terminal free fall, the issues surrounding a college education were in the news. CNN Money asked, Is college still worth the price?

Most of us have come to understand how necessary a college degree – in anything – is to being able to ‘successfully’ compete in today’s complicated modern world. Yet the costs of a degree – any degree – is soaring up to four times the rate of inflation even as both jobs and salaries for college graduates are shrinking. How much sense does it really make for families (or students, via loans) to pay $200,000 for a degree so s/he can get a job that pays $30,000 a year or less?

In a rational economy the rapid inflation of college tuition would slow, stop or even reverse as consumers – the pool of applying students – shrank in response to the spiraling costs. But for this particular commodity, there can be no shortage of applicants due to the recognized importance of said degree to the entire future of the prospective student. It is much easier to replace light bulbs and take public transportation to work in order to save on electric bills and gasoline than it is to forego a college education because it costs more than a graduating student can expect to earn.

Until the recent financial meltdown families felt fairly secure in their savings for their children’s educations, and college loans were readily available at low interest to finance most of the rest. Now the credit has dried up and the savings have been “liquidated” by failing Banks and Wall Street brokerages.

Some applicants are considering the traditional “Work Your Way Through College” option, but the kind of jobs a student can get part time in a college environment often pay minimum wage or even less. This won’t even buy a single textbook, much less pay a semester’s tuition. At this point the cost in time and energy simply isn’t worth it.

Some families are taking advantage of local Community College offerings, most of which have straight transfer programs to state universities following the first two years’ worth of standard requisites and humanities, which the community systems can offer much cheaper than universities do. In some states as worker re-training has become a serious mandate, the costs of tuition can be less than the amount available to students from the Pell Grant system. That of course doesn’t pay for textbooks (still outrageous) or transportation, but those same community colleges are offering more and more courses on-line so that students can do the work from home without having the transportation and meals expense.

Once in the system and receiving the Pell money, students are then eligible for other grants and scholarships the schools – including community colleges – administer. It takes a semester to get into the system, but this may be the least expensive way to do so. The system tends to follow the student – or even run ahead if she or he is obtaining scholarships for grade point maintenance – to the state universities, which have access to even more resources to help students cover the costs of their education.

The trick these days seems to be to avoid loans if at all possible, to NOT spend the savings the family may have accumulated and might still be worth something, but get the degree anyway. Very few careers actually require incoming hires to boast $200,000 degrees, so anyone not expecting to go into those particular careers should avoid the trap.

There are some good online sources for scholarships and grants as well that parents of high schoolers should be signing up with now, to give their kids the best competitive edge in applying as well as the early advantage of winning. Some of these, including FastWeb will target email alerts to what individual colleges and benefactors are offering in your child’s particular fields of interest as well as preferred schools according to your child’s profile. Peterson’s is a similar service, and either or both are highly recommended, FREE services.

So what’s the bottom line? Do what you have to do to get that degree, it’s still worth its weight in gold (and there aren’t a lot of good jobs around right now anyway). Just avoid debt if you can, take advantage of everything you are capable of using, plot your course carefully, and stick to the plan even if it takes longer to get that degree than you’d originally figured. Good luck and happy scholarship hunting!

Links:

The Cost of College In A Bad Economy
15 Ways to Set Yourself Apart in a Recession
Is college still worth the price?
Should your kid work in college?
Beat the college loan crunch
FastWeb: Scholarships, Financial Aid and Colleges
69 Free or Open Source Tools For Students

My eldest grandson graduated from high school in the top 10% of his class a couple of months ago, for which we are inordinately proud – he was taking courses like advanced biology, pre-calc, physics and advanced literature/writing, which most kids around here avoid like the plague. Now we’re facing the costs of getting him through college, since we raised him and of course we will.

We have had to seriously crimp some of our expectations about how this could happen, as things have changed both personally and societally since our children were in college. First, they don’t give out full scholarships to incoming freshmen around here, no matter how well they do in high school. You have to start with your basic Pell Grant and complete at least two semesters before you’re eligible for scholarship or extra grant money. The Pell Grant won’t come in until the second semester because the process doesn’t even start until the student’s already enrolled, so tuition must be paid up front out of pocket, along with all fees and the cost of textbooks.

So for our grandson, we have made concessions. He will work for his father in another state through the fall, save up money to be put toward tuition, books and transportation (or one of those, since they’re all necessities). That means not starting college until January. That will give us time to save for the tuition.

We’ve also decided to begin his academic career at the area community college rather than the university his mother graduated from, because the first year or two is just basic requirements, the CC offers them in a straight transfer program, and the cost is less than a third what the university costs for a full-time student. That way if he does well, he can get into the scholarship system quickly, including those from university when it’s time to make the change.

Tuition at our Community College is less than $700 per semester, which leaves $300 from the basic level Pell Grant to pay for everything else. $300 won’t even buy him lunch, so saving on the cost of books – which can often add up to tuition for the course – is required. Luckily, the CC here knows it’s in an official “economically depressed region” and offers cool alternatives. Most courses have online sources for lesson material, so students needn’t purchase textbooks at all. There’s also a lively book exchange, a used book option, and even a lending library on campus. So we’re hoping to get by at least the first year without having to buy any books at all.

At higher levels, however, he’s going to WANT to purchase books – he’ll want to keep them forever, as source material he can readily access in his future life. So I have found a couple of sources of very good information on how to save a bundle on college textbooks. If you’ve got someone in or getting ready for college, the tips will serve you very well! Check them out:

10 Tips: Save on college textbooks
MSNBC: 10 ways to save on college textbooks

“Is that a blunderbuss in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?”
Mae West

When the kids head back to school after summer vacation, parents have to spend money on supplies. In my state of North Carolina, merchants are exempted from state sales tax requirements on basic school supplies – notebooks, back-packs, filler paper, pencils and pens, etc. as well as clothing sales, which is a help for the less-than wealthy. I always take advantage of those tax-free days to buy the hardware supplies. But even without sales tax, clothing is expensive.

My grandson’s in high school, so this household has been trying to keep up with his needs as well as styles and clothing trends for a long time. If you’re as lucky as we are to have youngsters who are more style-setters than fashion followers, you’re already two steps ahead of the game.

In a later post I’ll discuss some useful resources for the more stylish and/or necessary aspects of wardrobe acquisition, which my daughter calls “Professional Thrifting.” In this post, I just want to talk about my grandson’s fashion wish-list, because it’s not that hard to accommodate…

Grandson in his summer pirate gear helping Grandpa with his fire-eating act at the annual Bele Chere festival in downtown Asheville.

He’s a pirate this year. Yes, the Johnny Depp variety, which I’m sure will cause no end of late evening phone calls from swooning, giggling girls. For this style he’s able to use those amazingly put-together black emo-style baggies with all the studs and zippers and pant-bottoms you detach, which makes them knicker-length to show off his red and white striped or black and grey striped knee socks (he stocks up on those at Christmas). So cool – we don’t have to run out and buy new pants!

Luckily, I’ve been a professional costumer for our family entertainment troupe for the past 25 years. Thought about being a fashion designer in high school, but costuming is both design and construction! My mother sewed, taught me when I was young, and I did pay attention in Home-Ec. That’s a skill that has come in handy all my life, not less so now that I’m a granny. Thus since my grandson bought “Pirates of the Carribean” I’ve plenty of opportunity to spot the details of style, and put together the rest of his wardrobe. Minus boots and accessories he’ll have to purchase elsewhere with his own money.

The shirts and vest are not difficult. 4 yards of unbleached cotton muslin, medium weight, will make a fine shirt. These things are old-fashioned, open v-neck, double yoke, gathered sleeve things you just can’t find in stores. Luckily they’re roomy enough to accommodate some growth, and if constructed carefully will last a couple of years even if washed every other day.

Patterns for pirate shirts are available from the usual companies, and useful if you aren’t accustomed to making it up as you go along. 4 yards of muslin will cost about $10 if not on sale, some mail-order suppliers sell in bulk (12 or more yards, good stuff to have on hand) for a buck a yard or less.

Vest patterns are also readily available, or you can do what I do – use a vest as a pattern. Just be sure to leave room for the seams (5/8″) all around, and choose your material carefully. Grandson’s will have front panels in a lined cotton/poly broadcloth of dark brown/black with a subtle pirate theme. Daughter found it at a fabric store next to where she works, it only takes a yard per vest so that was $7.00. For vest back and lining your basic black satin or grosgrain taffeta works great. Just be sure you wash and dry the panel fabric first so it won’t shrink and seriously disrupt the garment, as the lining and back material is usually rayon or some such petro-fiber.

Cotton batik fabric – usually as wrap-around skirts, shawls and other such garments – can be found at thrift stores in most localities. These make excellent head-scarves, which for a pirate need to be long enough to drape down the back when tied. Fat leather belts are also cheap at the secondhand stores, and pirates need lots of these. Your basic felt tricorn hat can be had at any costume shop in your town or on the internet (usually cheaper via ‘net) for less than $20.

For the finishing touch, those striped knee socks are invaluable. And don’t forget the broad fabric sash, definitely a pirate must-have. These are easily made of any fabric that strikes your fancy, I’ve made several out of dollar bin castaways nobody would ever really wear, but with great maroon and gold paisley or some other fine pattern. Attach fringe, maybe even bead some of it, and be sure it can be wrapped twice and tied to leave at least two feet of drape.

Aaaarrrr, Matey! Pirates rule.

Some sources for pirate patterns, costumes & stuff:

Fun Shop Costumes

House of Dra (Ren Costumes)

Simplicity Pattern Catalogue

FREE costume patterns