Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, orMooching off My Parents

by Zac Bissonnette, Andrew Tobias (Foreword by)

Overview

This book can save you more than $100,000.

These days, most people assume you need to pay a boatload of money for a quality college education. As a result, students and their parents are willing to go into years of debt and potentially sabotage their entire financial futures just to get a fancy name on their diploma.

But Zac Bissonnette is walking proof that this assumption is not only false, but dangerous-a class con game designed to rip you off and doom your student to a post-graduation life of near poverty . From his unique double perspective-he's a personal finance expert (at Daily Finance) AND a current senior at the University of Massachusetts-Zac figured out how to get an outstanding education at a public college, without bankrupting his parents or taking on massive loans.

Armed with his personal knowledge, the latest data, and smart analysis, Zac takes on the sacred cows of the higher education establishment. He reveals why a lot of the conventional wisdom about choosing and financing college is not only wrong but hazardous to you and your child's financial future. You'll discover, for instance, that:

* Student loans are NOT a necessary evil. Ordinary middle class families can- and must-find ways to avoid them, even without scholarships.

* College "rankings" are useless-designed to sell magazines and generate hype. If you trust one of the major guides when picking a college, you face a potential financial disaster.

* The elite graduate programs accept lots of people with non-elite bachelors degrees. So do America's most selective employers. The name on a diploma ultimately won't help your child have a more successful career or earn more money.

Zac can prove every one of those bold assertions - and more. No matter what your current financial situation, he has a simple message for parents: "RELAX! Your kid will be able to get a champagne education on a beer budget!"

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591842989
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/31/2010
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	277,131
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Zac Bissonnette wrote two acclaimed bestsellers before his 24th birthday: Debt-Free U and How to Be Richer, Smarter, and Better-Looking Than Your Parents. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe Magazine, the Daily Beast, and NYTimes.com, among others.

Andrew Tobias was born in New York, attended Harvard College and Harvard Business School, and has written extensively for 25 years on subjects relating to money, business, and personal finance. He has received both the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism and the Consumer Federation of America Media Service Award. He lives in Miami, New York, and cyberspace.

Table of Contents

Foreword Andrew Tobias ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction The Four People You Meet When You Apply to College, and the Lies They Tell 1

Chapter 1 How Much Can You Afford, and Where Will You Get the Money? 19

Chapter 2 Student Loans and Stagnant Wages: A Dangerous Cocktail for Future Graduates 61

Chapter 3 Does It Really Matter Where You Go to College? The Solution to the College Funding Nightmare 98

Chapter 4 How to Make Any College an Ivy League College 149

Chapter 5 Why Large Public Universities Are Better Than Private Colleges 173

Chapter 6 The Community College Solution 194

Chapter 7 Make Money, Prepare for a Career 212

Chapter 8 How Your Child Can Save Money While He's in College 236

Chapter 9 Invest in College-Town Real Estate 251

Chapter 10 It's Not Just a Personal Finance issue: How to Solve the College Crisis 259

Conclusion 267

The Dos and Don'ts of Paying for College 271

Recommended Reading 273

Notes 277

Index 281

What People are Saying About This

Farnoosh Torabi

"With Bissonnette, college-bound students and their parents finally have an unbiased source to help make an educated decision about choosing and affording college. Not to mention, his advice can help you pocket tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Want to make a smart investment in this economy? Buy Debt-Free U."--(Farnoosh Torabi, financial expert and author of Psych Yourself Rich)

Ali Rogers

“In the new economy, your college choice is critical. Zac Bissonnette's Debt-Free U is the one book you need to make this life-changing decision -- thoroughly researched, smart,and funny. Grade: A+.”--(Ali Rogers, CBS Moneywatch. Author, Diary of a Real Estate Rookie)

David Bach

“Let Zac Bissonnette help you plan for college—where to go, what to study, and how to pay for it—and you will finish rich”--(David Bach #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire and Start Late, Finish Rich)

From the Publisher

"If the National Association for College Admissions Counseling had anticipated the dire consequences of one of the smartest teenagers in America encountering the ill-examined assumptions of their profession, they might have found some way to buy him off, maybe a full ride scholarship to Harvard. Too late. Bissonnette is 21 now, a senior at the University of Massachusetts. He has written the best and most troubling book ever about the college admissions process."
-Jay Mathews, The Washington Post

"Let Zac Bissonnette help you plan for college-where to go, what to study, and how to pay for it-and you will finish rich"
-David Bach #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire and Start Late, Finish Rich

"In the new economy, your college choice is critical. Zac Bissonnette's Debt- Free U is the one book you need to make this life-changing decision— thoroughly researched, smart, and funny. Grade: A+."
-Ali Rogers, CBS Moneywatch. Author, Diary of a Real Estate Rookie

"With Bissonnette, college-bound students and their parents finally have an unbiased source to help make an educated decision about choosing and affording college. Not to mention, his advice can help you pocket tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Want to make a smart investment in this economy? Buy Debt-Free U."
-Farnoosh Torabi, financial expert and author of Psych Yourself Rich

Editorial Reviews

“If the National Association for College Admissions Counseling had anticipated the dire consequences of one of the smartest teenagers in America encountering the ill-examined assumptions of their profession, they might have found some way to buy him off, maybe a full ride scholarship to Harvard. Too late. Bissonnette is 21 now, a senior at the University of Massachusetts. He has written the best and most troubling book ever about the college admissions process.” -- (Jay Mathews)

The Washington Post