Discussion of prepaid college tuition plans looks at their strengths and weaknesses and provides an analysis to illustrate their use as an alternative in funding a child's future education. It is noted that, although some financial planners argue against them, they can offer significant savings by locking in tuition rates. (MSE)

Examines the matriculation behavior of high-ability students choosing among a small set of higher education institutions that are close competitors. Results suggest that students' choices are influenced by net attendance costs and that attendance cost effects decline as parental income increases. Nonmonetary and nonacademic factors, such as…

This article discusses how representations of individual discipline and risk-taking in mass media inform the broader public discourses about public education and the public sector generally. Such representations and narratives about individual discipline and risk-taking often function in mass media as moral imperatives of consumer culture. Such…

Families need assistance in planning for the costs of higher education. Some suggestions are offered, including question the premise that parents will finance one year's education out of one year's income; create a national college savings plan, etc. (MLW)

With tuition rising and anxiety mounting over students too deeply in debt, an effort to change the psychology of paying for college is gaining steam. The Reagan Administration is expected to propose a new savings bond whose interest would be tax free if the bond is cashed in for college. (MLW)

Programs allowing parents to prepay tuition at selected colleges and universities are gaining popularity among institutions but are found to be potentially damaging to the institutions' finances and reputations and to relationships among institutions. (MSE)

The president of the Education Commission of the States urged state policy-makers to proceed cautiously in developing plans to allow parents to pre-pay college tuitions years in advance at discounted prices. Reciprocal agreements between the states and exploration of other options are suggested. (MLW)

A Missouri proposal that parents be allowed to set up special savings accounts for their children's college education that would be exempt from state income tax is described. It is compared to a plan in Michigan that allows parents to prepay tuition at colleges in the state. (MLW)

This paper examines changes in the distribution of family income over 30 years, estimating the effect of parental resources on college education, and noting the fact that families at the bottom of the income distribution were much poorer in the 1990s than the 1970s, while the opposite was true for families in the top quartile. Data came from three…

In 1979, St. John's Elementary School in Lawrence, Kansas, replaced its set tuition rate with the Educational Commitment Plan, under which parents negotiate to pay as much of their child's actual education costs as they can afford. This article describes the implementation of the plan and parents' reactions to it. (SJL)

A study of parent contributions to dependent student's college costs in 1983 and 1987 found that contributions have increased significantly in general and for the $40,000-50,000 income group in particular. (Author/MSE)

Describes the national data currently available to answer questions concerning: the match between children in need of child care and the type of arrangements made for them; the proportion of children in licensed arrangements; the relationship between price of care and the family's ability to pay; and parents' preferences for type of program. (BB)

Indiana University is offering parents the opportunity to purchase credit hours at 1988 rates and use them for their children's college education after 1990. The university will place money from certificate sales in a trust managed by an independent financial adviser, who will invest the funds. (MLW)

Explored adolescent gender differences in possessions and parental financial assistance. Eight common adolescent possessions were analyzed, as well as expected parental contributions to their children's postsecondary education. Findings from 448 high school students revealed that males were significantly more likely to own stereos and athletic…

Used data from 1987-88 National Survey of Families to describe components of nonresident fathers' involvement and participation in childrearing decisions. Data suggest stability in definition of father role after separation when family characteristics were controlled. For most children born outside of marriage or whose parents divorced, father…