College Costs

Everyone has heard how tuition over the last couple decades has risen significantly faster than inflation. The same is true of textbook prices.

The rising cost of college textbooks has driven Congress and nearly three dozen states -- including Maryland and Virginia -- to attempt to curtail prices and controversial publishing practices through legislation. But as the fall semester begins, students are unlikely to see much relief...

Pavel Zemliansky, associate professor of writing and rhetoric at James Madison University, put a textbook he wrote online after a fallout with potential publishers. He said most of the curriculum in his introductory classes, such as grammar and citation, is available free on the Internet.

"It's not clear to me anymore whether university bookstores and educational publishers exist to support education or whether students exist to support those businesses," he said. "It just seems there is a lot of very aggressive marketing going on."

Is this a problem that a Kindle could solve? There wouldn't be a need for actual printers anymore--just publish the book digitally and see downloads. It's worked for iTunes and music!

And once you've paid for tuition, housing, and textbooks, what about everything else?

You thought you were finished with the college bills when you figured out how to pay the tuition. But you hadn't reckoned on buying the microwave, the mini-refrigerator and, of course, those extra-long sheets.

Once your kids head off to school, you may face other financial emergencies. What if they get sick, lose the laptop or overdraw their checking account? Here's how to handle those situations with a minimum of pain to your pocketbook, and your child's.

A parent's work is never done, and his wallet is never closed.