Southeast Texas P-16 Council

"NEW YORK — It is generally true that you get what you pay for, but not necessarily when it comes to higher education.

"A new study scheduled for release Monday about the value of a college education, at least when it comes to the basics, has found the opposite to be true in most cases. Forget Harvard and think Lamar."

Those words in the Washington Post this weekend by staffer Kathleen Parker, seemed to take Lamar University by surprise. Not that it isn't true. It's more that it was part of any publicity campaign.

Thus, Lamar Unversity's string of accolades keeps building. At the Fall Convocation, Monday, Lamar President Dr. Jimmy Simmons missed the pleasure of being the first to call attention to the article, as he was introducing new Texas State University  System Chancellor Dr. Brian McCall and Chair of the Senate Education and Higher Education Committees, State Senator Dan Patrick.   Both were please with the national attention that Lamar received and noted it was deserved and to the point.

In case you missed it, don't let us spoil your fun in reading the story.

The study to which the story refers is at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni site  -- a non-profit trying to cut through the hype "to help parents and students determine where they might get the best bang for their buck."

Dr. Simmons, announcing the Lamar would probably have more than 14,000 students this fall after registration ends, and will have the most on campus students ever, jokingly speculated on what a story such as this, syndicated in hundreds of newspapers across the country might do to future enrollments. 

Wait, maybe he wasn't joking.

So you're a senior this year? 

It's going to be a whirlwind year of studying -- an a lot of it won't be just your school work.  You will also to have to do a lot of studying about you college choice for next year.

Juniors can get a jump on this,  taking advantage of a more leisurely pace with less deadlines to worry about.

Some of what you will need to learn this year includes

• What do you want to study in college?
• What is the best college for you?
• When do you apply?
• How are you going to pay for college?
• How much financial aid can you get?
• What loans and other sources of funds can you use to pay for college.

It's time to start having serious talks with your parents. They may have gone to college, but they will have a lot of catching up to do --things have changed dramatically over the years.  Including some new changes just this summer, that can dramatically affect your changes for college.

We will be bringing you some information resources on a regular basis. To get you started we offer these:

Motley Fool's college savings calculator  -- a simple easy to use calculator along with some savy advice, from a trusted financial web site.

MSN gives a quick primer on college costs, what's driving them up, and the real (an suprisingly affordable) cost to you.

US News and World Report offers this Financial Aid 101 for parents and students.

CollegeToolKit.com offers this quick rule to start you thinking about how much financial aid you can expect for going to college:

"A good rule of thumb for computing financial aid is to take 20 percent of your top-line income (before any deductions) and add 5 percent of your assets (not including your residence). This amount is a very rough approximation of how much you will be expected to spend per year for your student's education.

"Here's an example. If you make $100,000 per year and your assets are worth $200,000, universities would expect you to cough up $30,000 (20 percent of $100,000, plus 5 percent of $200,000). "