collega tuition

Long-Term Strategies

For financial-aid purposes, the most crucial year is the one that begins on Jan. 1 while your child is a junior in high school—the "base income year." During that time, and throughout college, income earned or received is counted more heavily than assets in the financial-aid formulas. Try to avoid taking retirement distributions or realizing large capital gains during that period. Load up on contributions to retirement plans before the base and college years, because assets in those accounts aren't counted in the aid formulas.

Some families may want to defer converting an IRA to a Roth IRA, even though new laws now make it possible for wealthier taxpayers to take advantage of the conversion. Many financial-aid offices may use the income generated from the conversion to reduce the students' eligibility for need-based aid—unless parents appeal the offer through professional judgment.

Since financial-aid forms ask parents to list the funds in their accounts the day they fill out the forms, aim to draw down those accounts as much possible before filing out the paperwork. If you were already planning to make a big purchase—say, a new car or computer—just buy it sooner.

Spend down assets in the student's name first, since aid formulas count student assets more heavily than parental assets. Custodial accounts,such as UTMAs and UGMAs, can also be liquidated with the proceeds transferred into a custodial 529 plan, which are currently counted as a parent asset on the Fafsa form.

Some families may want to consider margin loans, passbook loans (which use savings accounts as collateral) or a home-equity loan to help pay for college since such loans reduce net assets in the aid formula, says Mr.Chany. If, for example, you have a $20,000 stock portfolio and a $5,000margin loan and have no other investments to report, you'd report $15,000 as the figure for your assets on the Fasfa. A major drawback:If the stock market declines drastically, you may be asked to put up additional stock as collateral or pay back part of the margin loan.

Another strategy: Use one of the more than two dozen "prepaid" 529 plans, which allow families to make an upfront payment in exchange for future tuition contracts or credits. The tuition guarantees generally apply to state schools in the state where they are offered, though you can use the money to help pay for out-of-state or private schools. Although many prepaid plans are operating in the red, for now they are still paying tuition as agreed. But the fine print in some state contracts gives them some wiggle room to pay out less than the promised amounts,so read it carefully.

As Steve Berenson's kids got closer to college, he sold some of his holdings in stock-index funds to buy contracts in the Independent 529, a prepaid plan with partnerships with more than 270 private colleges. With his son, Jacob, set to attend one of those schools—Kalamazoo College in Michigan—this fall, he was able to dodge some of the recent tuition spikes.

The school also offered Jacob a $17,000 annual scholarship, and Mr. Berenson, a 47-year-old personnel manager in Vienna, W.Va., recently paid off his mortgage. "I timed it so that I would be freeing up cash flow," he says.

Perhaps the most effective tactic is to find a school that really wants your child. Barry Evans of Carmel Valley, Calif., says his and his wife's decision to send their daughter, Paige, to Southern Methodist University in Dallas was swayed in part by the scholarship money the school offered. "My perception is that early on in the process, SMU decided they really wanted her," he says.

Mr. Evans also netted an additional $6,000 grant by approaching the head of the department that Paige, who just finished her freshman year, was interested in. Today, the school is covering slightly less than half of the roughly $50,000 annual cost through a mix of scholarships and grants.

Paying Up

College costs—including tuition, room and board and mandatory fees—are at all-time highs, although schools say they're boosting aid. Here is a list of the 10 most-expensive schools for the current 2009-10 year,along with next year's costs.


Source: WSJ analysis based on data provided by the College Board; rankings based on 2009-2010 costs.

* Sarah Lawrence College
2009-10: $55,788
2010-11: $57,384
* Georgetown University
2009-10: $52,161
2010-11: $53,006
* New York University
2009-10: $51,993
2010-11: $53,588
* George Washington University
2009-10: $51,775
2010-11: $53,025
* Johns Hopkins University
2009-10: $51,690
2010-11: $53,690
* Columbia University
2009-10: $51,544
2010-11: $57,000 to $59,000*
* Vassar College
2009-10: $51,470
2010-11: $53,270
* Wesleyan University
2009-10: $51,432
2010-11: $53,976
* Trinity College (Conn.)
2009-10: $51,400
2010-11: $53,380
* Bates College
2009-10: $51,300
2010-11: $53,300
*
* *Reflects estimated costs provided by the school's financial-aid office; final costs to be set later this year. Note: Landmark College and Columbia University's School of General Studies,with 2009-10 costs of $53,900 and $51,930, respectively, were excluded because their programs are geared to nontraditional students.


Write to Jane J. Kim at jane.kim@wsj.com

选择股票十九条，条条真理招招高。按此规律炒股票，一般情况不会套。
下降通道只能瞧，价量齐跌不能要。空头均线难走好，长期盘整等它翘。
密集成交不太妙，主力抛压退为好。看法一致壁上瞧，市场冷门没人要。
股评力荐利润少，走势怪异远离跑。基本面上选股票，学会简直不得了。
日常生活是学校，前人经验不可少。垄断行业利润高，龙头企业更可靠。
短炒暴富糟了糕，波段操作少不了。能在股市立直腰，警惕时刻不可少。
题材都是庄家造，业绩增长难回报。股市变幻真奥妙，倔强固执是傻冒。
多空之战天天搞，短线要做墙头草。谁强你就朝谁靠，短期获利少不了。
上涨初期买股票，下跌学会开始抛。时机把握最重要，看你本领高不高。
趋势形态灵芝草，指标价量屠龙刀。循环理论掌握好，征战股市乐逍遥。
10天成本生命线，只要不破不必跑。超级短线看三天，破掉止损跑为妙。
长期均线往上翘，短期呈现乱缠绕。平台厚积一做成，股价薄发往上冲。
年线由下变走平，准备资金心笃定。年线上拐慢慢行，突破回看坚决进。
年线由上往下行，形态一定要看清。与其买入等突破，不如暂时观其行。
股价企稳在年线，骏马奔腾难以停。斜率改变呈加速，离顶绝对差一线。
短线下穿半年线，股票千万不要粘。一旦深跌半年线，老熊陪你玩几年。
年线上拐如出现，中线走好思维变。季线出现被跌破，分明大祸在眼前。
股价慢慢踩季线，果断入市莫等闲。月线趋势如下行，行情肯定已经停。
月线上穿季线时，买进耐心等收银。记住以上并领会，必然小亏只大赚。

Believe or not

I can’t believe in light
if I have not journeyed through the night

I can’t believe in crookedness
if I have not hoped for straightness

I can’t promise to offer you a jiffy
if I can’t grant you all eternity

Don’t know why
I am still here talking about love
I can’t even offer you a cup of tea
or add a blanket on you
when you call me
I can’t even offer you a strand of comfort
through the distances
when you think of me

Yet I do hear
the rolling thunders from afar and above
So fear not, and fret not
for in every cell of yours resides my very being
and power


Oh, how I look back
to behold the beloved land where I was born:
My love, wait for me
The day is coming , when I will wear
a wreath of lilies and roses
perfumed with the aroma of cloud and dirt
And I will hold you in my arms as my beloved bride
waiting eagerly to be married


我不相信光明
假如我没有经过黑暗
我不相信弯曲
假如我不能企盼昂直

我不能应允给你瞬间
假如我不能应允给你永远

不知道为什么
我还在这里谈情说爱 ---
我无法在你唤我的时候
为你温上一壶热茶
添加一条暖毯；
我也无法
在你想我的时候
穿过茫茫万维
给你送过去一丝宽慰

可耳边总捕捉到
天边滚滚而来的声响：
不要惧怕，不要彷徨
你身上的每颗细胞
都有我的存在，我的能量

我转过头去，
回望我深情的出生地：
我所爱的人啊
等着我
有一天，我的头上
会戴着兰和玫瑰织成的花环
散发着云和泥的幽香
我会拥着你
象一个临出嫁的新娘！