Colleges Cutting Tuition to Attract More Students

Image via WikipediaI never thought I would see the day when a college would reduce its tuition. Colleges wanting to attract more students are lowering their tuition costs to make it more affordable. This is a new trend to lower costs which will help middle-income families who make to much to receive grants but to little to afford tuition. According to a Smartmoney.com article, Edwin Welch, president of University of Charleston, in West Virginia says "We are hoping to recruit more students from that group (middle income) than in the past".

The colleges are giving discounts to be more affordable but their costs may still be higher than public colleges. The average annual cost of tuition and fees at a four-year public college for in-state students this year is $8,244, according to the College Board. Of the private colleges cutting tuition, Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., will offer the lowest tuition (roughly $10,000) for incoming freshmen with high grades.

The current situation comes at a time when FASFA grants are starting to be cut. The cost cutting by government is a result of future federal budget cuts that will have to be put on the backs of college students receiving grants. Add to that the dismal performence of college saving vehicles like 529 plans are the situation worse. Something will have to give and the only other place to cut is tuition costs at your local college and university.

Here are the colleges providing tuition discounts.


Cabrini College

• tuition cut: 12.5%
• tuition and fees in 2012-13: $29,000 (down from $33,176 this year)
• located near Philadelphia
• room and board - $11,742 

Lincoln College

• tuition cut: 24%
• tuition and fees in 2012-13: $17,480 (down from $23,000 this year)
• the cost of tuition, fees, room and board is $29,000 this year
• room and board is $7,000. 
• located in Lincoln, Ill.

University of Charleston

• tuition cut: 22%
• tuition and fees in 2012-13: $20,700 (down from $26,200)
• the university decided to reduce tuition by 22% for new students and give at least $6,000 in free aid to all returning ones. 
• room and board, which averages $9,000 a year, will likely increase by 1% to 2%.

William Peace University

• Tuition cut: 7.7%
• Tuition and fees in 2012-13: $23,900 (down from $25,900)
• located in Raleigh, N.C.
• cost of dorms is $6,186 and food costs will rise to $2,814.

Duquesne University

• Tuition and fees cut: 50% in the form of a grant for freshmen who enroll in its School of Education
• located in Pittsburgh, Pa. 
• Tuition and fees in 2012-13: $14,355 (down from $28,671
• Room and board will rise next year by 3% to 4% from its current level of roughly $9,800.

Seton Hall University

• Tuition and fees cut: roughly $21,000 for incoming high achieving freshmen
• Tuition and fees in 2012-13: $10,104 (down from roughly $31,000)
• located in South Orange, N.J.
• Room and board, which costs about $11,000 a year, will rise between 1% and 5%

The days of ever increasing costs for college tuition are coming to an end. The free money coming from government programs is beginning to taper off. Colleges will have to be more competitive with their prices to vie for less tuition dollars.

Tax Filing Status Is Not Set In Stone

Tax Preparation (Photo credit: agrilifetoday)

This tax season many people will be changing their tax filing status from single to married. It's all so exciting for the newlyweds new life together. To make it more interesting you and your spouse can now file joint tax returns.

Your filing status is an important part of your tax return because if used incorrectly you could be paying to much in taxes. Many people do not realize that you don't have to continue to use the one filing status, you can change it depending on the tax implications.

“Newlyweds and married taxpayers can choose to file jointly or separately based on their individual situation, but keep in mind that this filing status can change each year,” said Mark Steber, chief tax officer, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. “Generally, using the ‘married filing jointly’ status provides the lowest tax liability and the highest standard deduction. However, if one of the filers has large deductions or expenses, the ‘married filing separately’ status may be more beneficial.”

Some rules you need to keep in mind.

• The Internal Revenue Service recognizes a couple’s marital status on the last day of the year. Even couples who wed right before midnight on December 31 are considered legally married for the full 2011 tax year;
• Couples should note that certain credits, including the Child and Dependent Care Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and certain education credits, are not available under the “married filing separately” status; and,
• Tying the knot often results in a new last name. Names listed in your tax return should match all forms of identification, including social security card, passport, driver’s license and documents from employers, loan holders and investment accounts.

Make sure you seek out professional tax advice when choosing a tax filing status. The money you spend on this counsel will benefit you with only paying the minimum tax owed.

A Reverse Mortgage Is A Smart Alternative For Tapping Home Equity

With the current lending climate, getting equity back out of a home is a challenge. Lenders aren't eager to do home equity lines of credit or second mortgages as they were a few years ago. However, the reverse mortgage is making a comeback, according to Annamaria Andriotis of Smart Money magazine.

You may be familiar with reverse mortgages from TV ads and infomercials. They may sound too good to be true, but reverse mortgages are backed by the Federal Housing Administration and are a legitimate government program, not a late-night TV scam. 

Smart Money says that MetLife Bank has increased its reverse mortgages by 171% from 2010 to 2011. That's a substantial increase for a single product by a single lender, even though the total number (10,512) may seem low.

Reverse mortgages are, of course, only available to people ages 62 and up. Homeowners are allowed to get a loan for a percentage of the home's value: up to 62% for a 62 year old and up to 72% for an 80 year old. There are plenty of associated fees with a reverse mortgage, including origination and HUD mortgage insurance premiums, but they can be a good way to leverage the equity in your home and use that money as long as you live there, especially if you can't get a traditional home equity loan.

How to find a good reverse mortgage lender? 

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association has a website with lots of information on how to do that. You can also try Weemba.com. Weemba allows you to register and post your loan needs, including for reverse mortgages, at no cost to you. 

Because your post only shows up under a nickname, you can include information about the value of your home, how long you've been paying on it, any income that you have and a no-cost, no-impact credit score. No one can connect the information to who you really are. If a professional lender finds your post and wants to contact you, you will get an alert by email letting you know that, and you can say yes or no to it as you wish.

Besides reverse mortgages, Weemba allows you to post for all kinds of loan needs, both personal and business: HELOCs, mortgages, home improvement loans, medical loans, lines of credit, car loans, RV loans, boat loans and all kinds of business loans too. 

There is never a fee for a borrower to use Weemba; it is not a direct lender. The website simply provides users with the tools to present themselves to professional lenders in the best way possible. Weemba is changing the way that borrowers and lenders find each other online, forever.

Yearly Budget Review 'Could Help Prevent Debt Problems'

Budgeting (Photo credit: 401K)People could greatly improve their financial planning just by comparing today's finances with a year ago, according to financial solutions company Think Money.

Checking bank statements from a year earlier and comparing your spending then with today could give a good insight to how your spending habits have changed - for the better or for the worse.

"Looking back at how your finances were in January 2011 could help you to make some important changes to the management of your finances here in February 2012, and give you a clearer picture of what decisions you need to make for the year ahead," said an expert at Think Money.

"Get together all your bank statements, receipts, budget plans, invoices for bills and any other important financial documents you have from the past year. Have your finances, generally speaking, improved? Got worse? Remained largely the same? Depending on what shape your finances are in now, compared with 12 months ago, you could take various approaches to dealing with them."

In particular, Think Money said comparing debt levels with a year ago could be very important.

"If you were managing your debts successfully a year ago, but feel you've lost control now, what were you doing differently then? Did you have fewer debts of smaller amounts, a higher disposable income, or were you simply more financially organised? If you're facing debt problems, it's important to get professional advice as early as possible, so you can find an approach to budgeting and debt management that works for you."