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Tackling Tuition 101

Aired March 28, 2009 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, Tackling Tuition 101. How to afford higher education. All hour we are giving you some practical solutions. We'll talk to a family who is grappling with how to send their daughter to college in this struggling economy. We'll show you how to figure out the cost of school for yourself or perhaps for your child, no matter how old that child may be.

And we'll speak to university presidents to get their advice and a financial adviser is here answering your questions. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A special hour Tackling Tuition 101 in the CNN NEWSROOM.

So for the 2008-2009 school year, the average tuition and fees for private university more than $25,000. A public four-year university, more than $6,500, and a public two-year college more than $2,400. How do you afford it all? It's a difficult and stressful time for the entire family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Choosing a college campus. For American families like the Chakales, this springtime means tough decisions about the fall. So your heart tells you one thing. But the pursestrings tell you another.

PRESLEY CHAKALES: Yes, definitely.

WHITFIELD: So what are these conversations like with mom and dad when you all try to come to grips about a happy medium?

PRESLEY CHAKALES: They can get heated. But it really comes to an understanding when we know what we can and can't do, financially.

WHITFIELD: 17-year-old Presley is graduating high school with a 3.6 grade point average. She's eligible for Georgia's Hope's scholarship if she attends a state school. And that means free tuition.

PRESLEY CHAKALES: Well I've heard back from all of the schools except for the two in-state schools.

WHITFIELD: But Presley has her heart set on going out of state.

PRESLEY CHAKALES: So I can meet new people and start something different.

WHITFIELD: To study pre-med.

PRESLEY SCHACKLE: I've received scholarships from two schools. I got an academic scholarship to LSU and to the University of South Carolina as well. And I definitely consider those because it's similar to the Hope scholarship. It's not accepting that would be giving back money they were willing to offer me.

WHITFIELD: Her parents, Peter and Anne, are caught between their daughter's wishes and the family's financial survival. Their college savings have been savaged.

PETER CHAKALES: 2006, it would have been fine if she was a senior. 2009, 55 percent of has evaporated. So that's really what's causing it.

ANN: We did have a ninth grader also. So we have to think a little down the road. Because hopefully he'll be going to school. And then she's talking about graduate school.

WHITFIELD: So what the are dollar figures that we're talking about when we say, you know, a UNC Wilmington is very expensive compared to what it could cost the family at UGA? Do you know? Do you have a pretty good sense?

PRESLEY: UNC Wilmington is a little bit over $25,000 for tuition, room and board and stuff. And then I think with Hope, what is UGA like ended like 5,000 or 7,000.

PETER CHAKALES: 10 or 12.

WHITFIELD: So half.

PRESLEY: Yes, which is considerably smaller.

WHITFIELD: How do you weigh the pros and cons?

PRESLEY: To be honest, the smartest route would definitely be going in state and utilizing Hope but I want to go out of state so bad that I try and you know think about I would be happier.

WHITFIELD: If you had an opportunity to talk directly with a financial planner for college, what is it that you would want to ask this person directly about how to make Presley's dreams and your dreams as parents possible?

PETER CHAKALES: Can we make it make sense?

ANN CHAKALES: I know that we've talked about the fact that we don't really want to take out loans. And someday we do hope we could retire. So really don't want to take out a second mortgage on my home.

WHITFIELD: Have you thought about any kind of bargaining tools to use with your parents? Have you volunteered? Hey, you know what, I'll take on some of the debt if I get to choose wherever I want to go.

PRESLEY CHAKALES: I mention that I plan on taking out student loans if I had to. And that was quickly shut down because they don't want me to be in debt just as much as they don't want to be in debt. WHITFIELD: Do you think the consideration of your parent's pocketbook will in any way, I guess, impact or even sacrifice the level of education that you're going to get?

PRESLEY CHAKALES: I don't think it will influence the level of education. I think that any school I choose to go to will be definitely high up, and I'll benefit a lot from it. But the impact on their wallets will influence my choice. Even though I would like it not to. It is reality.

WHITFIELD: Is that encouraging? She says she's actually thinking about your wallet. Are you surprised to hear that? Did you know that already?

PETER CHAKALES: I'll have to cut you a check.

(LAUGHTER)

PETER CHAKALES: That's our struggle. You know, we're all in this together. Does it make sense to have a significant expenditure for a year or two so that we can be out of state to meet her needs, her desires when we have these benefits of being instate. So that's really a struggle.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): A struggle shared in countless households across the nation as parents try to balance the cost of college and the dreams of their children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK, so we are looking for ways to help the Chakales their college tuition dilemma. So they are here with us today. Just introduce you once again to Peter, Anna and Presley. And we're also joined by a financial planner June Walbert from New York. She's here to help them and help you find ways to afford college.

So, June, you heard this family's dilemma mirrored by so many other families across the country. Is this doable? Can Presley go to the college of her choice even if it is out of state and not break the family's bank?

JUNE WALBERT, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: Well you know, something has got to give. He said that the investments were down about 55 percent. You know, that is a big ouch. So we've got to come up with that money somehow or another. And so either student loans need to be taken out, on the parents part, in the parents plus loans or Presley can take out some loans as well. They're aware of that.

But you know just maybe they can compromise and Presley goes with the school with the Hope credit the first two years and then goes to -

WHITFIELD: That just made Ann smile.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Yes, compromise is exactly what we're looking for June. We're going to get some more from you from New York on advice to our family here and families across the country.

So you heard it earlier, the average cost of college, four year, whether it's private or perhaps even public, it could range between $20,000 and $30,000. So how do you pay for it? We're also taking in e-mail questions. And here's one that we're going to be answering right after the break.

I'm considering going to graduate school during this downturn in the economy. I'm curious if there is advice on how to go from a professional salary to a starving student again. Do I get loans to handle the expenses of a 42-year-old man going back to school? All these and more. Tackling tuition 101.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to tackling tuition 101. How in the world do we pay for higher education? I've got a four-year-old. Way, way far away from actually going off to college. But my husband and I have been trying to figure out how do we save, how much do we put away? Well look, take a look at this location.

Go sallymay.com/plan. If you go to this website, you can plug in the numbers. It asks you about on how - some recommendations on how to save. So we want our child to at least have a bachelor's degree, right? And if a student is a U.S. citizen you answer that yes. And then it prompts you to the next thing. Perhaps you have an idea of where you want them to go. We just threw in Harvard University because we know it's one of the more expensive we know that we want to have at least enough perhaps for a child to go wherever it is they want to go and full time when the child graduate in 2024.

And then it tells us just how much money we need to have saved come 2024 for tuition of $90,000 a year. And four years, of course, over time, what does that means, almost $600,000 saved for my child's education who is now four. All right. We plugged in some numbers for you, too, Presley. We know that you would really love to go to - I'm sorry. This is my alma mater.

If my child was to go to my alma matter of Howard University, I still got to save a lot of money. We got to save a lot of money. $273,000 for a four-year education. You know, this is all very hefty and my husband and I are wondering, wait a minute, how much do we need to put away per month? June, you're going to will help us on that.

But for Presley here, Chakales, we know you want to go to UNC Wilmington. That's kind of your dream school. And we know that you're eligible for a Hope scholarship, which is a great gift coming from the state of Georgia because you have a high GPA. You can go to school for free tuition. But look here, here's the breakdown, $104,000 for your college education at UNC Wilmington. Peter and Ann, did you know that. You've done the numbers, you've crunched the numbers and you're now trying to figure out, can we really afford this?

So Peter, we saw on the piece you prefer your daughter to go in state because of that Hope scholarship. When you look at numbers like this, how does this family manage? How would you make $100,000 work?

PETER CHAKALES: Well, it's concerning because it would be financed.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And you don't want to go into debt any further, Ann. You don't want to take out loans. OK. So, June, this is where you come in. June Walbert out of New York, how does a family like the Chakales, how do they approach these figures and say we don't want to take out a second mortgage on our home? What don't want to imposed more credit card debt. What are their options? What are the questions they need to be asking to get some sort of assistance?

WALBERT: Well, first off, free is my favorite price. I love free tuition. I would really encourage that route. But I know that we want to give our kids what they desire to get the best education possible. So we're talking about 100 grand here. That is a big chunk of change. So we've got to look at what's left of that education savings account that was hit by the stock market decline. See what we've got left and what we can gleam from current cash flow to add to that overall pot so that they can avoid debt. I would love it if they could even taking out parents plus loans, if at all possible.

WHITFIELD: What's that?

WALBERT: The parents plus loan is a loan where parents can take out really an unlimited amount of money in loans for their kids.

WHITFIELD: Did you hear about that?

WALBERT: The interest rate is about 8.5 percent. So it's pretty steep but it may be deductible for them depending on their income.

WHITFIELD: OK. They're shaking their heads. Does that mean, oh, didn't know about that and that's good to know? Or does that mean I like that option?

PETER CHAKALES: It means that we know about the 8.5 percent.

WHITFIELD: OK.

WALBERT: And that's smart.

WHITFIELD: OK. And what else, June.

WALBERT: And one more thing, I really want them to avoid credit cards. I mean that is really the very worst way to pay for college tuition. So you know, I just think that they have to look at really what is reasonable, doable, feasible at this point in time.

WHITFIELD: And then we know that there is federal aid, $143 billion available to families for financial assistance. But Presley even expressed to us, you know what graduating with $100,000 debt really not that interesting to me.

WALBERT: Well, it's a rough way to start out in the business world, isn't it? You know, once upon a time we could get mortgages for $100,000 and it seemed like a lot. It really does take some time to pay that off. And it depends on what Presley ends up doing ultimately, how long it will take her to pay that debt off. The only good thing about debt for student loans, two good things.

One is it's an investment in your future. Right, that's a good thing.

WHITFIELD: That's good.

WALBERT: The second thing is up to $2500 in interest is tax deductible at certain income levels.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. That's a little bit encouraging here. We've got lots of e-mails coming your way as well, June. We want to hear from our family here, some additional concerns or thoughts they may have. We've been talking about kind of big college campuses. Well, there are lots of choices available from vocational schools to community colleges and historical black colleges and universities. All of these campuses offering so much to students. So how do you make a decision, and what happens when one in that field of choice actually gets in financial trouble itself?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Lots of schools to choose from, including more than 100 historically black colleges and universities. Many private, many public bragging that they provide a supportive environment where their students are more likely to succeed than in mainstream schools. But when one gets a failing grade, talking about an HBCU, an entire community steps in to raise the grade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): $30 million in debt. Struggling to keep the doors open and keep a 128-year-old campus alive. Morris Brown College, one of the nation's oldest historically black colleges founded after Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation. Morris Brown proudly boasts it is Georgia's first education institution fostering the spiritual and intellectual growth for African-Americans.

Among its alumni, civil rights activists Hosea Williams and Pulitzer Prize winning author, James A. McPherson who later graduated from Harvard Law School. So much history, part of allure for students like Aysa Robinson. She says her 3.5 high school GPA made her eligible for full scholarship to Ohio State University.

AYSA ROBINSON, STUDENT: I could actually go to almost any school I wanted. But I decided to stay here.

WHITFIELD: She and just 160 other students. Barely eight percent of the 2,600 students enrolled at its peak six years ago. Morris Brown is now a shadow of its former self. What happened? A number of things. Embezzlement of federal funds under previous leadership in 2002 cost Morris Brown accreditation along with federal and state funding.

And just last winter, life on campus for the handful of students here got even worse. A 380,000 unpaid water bill dried up services in the dorms.

BERNARD HILL, STUDENT: We need donations we can get from all the big time people to even small time people. We hit the corner when the water situation hit.

WHITFIELD: Money was so tight the college missed a payment, and lenders foreclosed on one college building.

DR. STANLEY PRICHETT, PRESIDENT, MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE: It really did not help Morris Brown College. You don't want to lose any of your assets.

WHITFIELD: Thousands of dollars in gifts from celebrities and churches have helped a little to keep lessons going for just two majors, business administration and education.

Sophomore Bernard Hill like most students is on an 80 percent scholarship. He transferred to Morris Brown and thinks the 1,400 he pays out of pocket for a year at the school is money well spent. The financially embattled college can't find a bank to restructure its multi-million debt. So it still isn't financially stable enough to win back its accreditation.

Still President Pritchard is committed to finding ways to keep the doors open even if it means only a handful of students are helping to keep this campus alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. So we wanted to know more about how private and public institutions are doing in good times and bad. So we're joined by Alvin Thornton, the interim Provost of Howard University, a private school, federally funded in Washington. Dr. Anthony Frank is the interim president of Colorado State University, a public school in Fort Collins joining us from Denver. Good to see you both of you, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

ALVIN THORNTON, INTERIM PROVOST, HOWARD UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, let me get an idea from you first. You know, Mr. Thornton, we talk about Morris Brown not doing very well. An entire community of HBCUs has really come around Morris Brown to make sure that it lives. Why is it so important and what it is it about an HBCU that's offered that perhaps mainstream colleges and universities do not?

THORNTON: Well, first of all, these colleges educate a disproportionate percentage of the children of African-American decent that are educated in this country. And so that is a national purpose that these colleges serve. When I think of Morris Brown, I don't necessarily think of Morris Brown per se. I think what the state of Georgia needs and the city of Atlanta needs and the south eastern region needs.

That is that you have a large percentage of African-American children, particularly who are not graduating are from high school, and are not going to college. So what the state of Georgia needs and southeastern America needs are institutions like Morris Brown surviving, doing what they have historically done. That is enrolling these children, maturing these children, and graduating these children. So you have a national, a regional and a local need. That schools like Morris Brown are the only types of schools who have shown their willingness to serve. And so what we need to do is rally around the school, nationally, locally, and in terms of private support and help this school to rehabilitate itself.

WHITFIELD: So we talk about survivability, not just for the institution, it is survivability for the student as well. So you know, Dr. Frank, you know, I wonder from you, underscore how important it is that there are so many different kind of choices for students of today. There is no, you know, monolith profile of the student today. Your college and university is also seeing an increase in applicants perhaps from people who have been in the working industry, right? Who are now thinking about going back to school because of these tough economic times. How do I compete?

ANTHONY FRANK, INTERIM PRES., COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY: You're right, the student today is very diverse set of individuals . We have seen a 10 percent increase in resident applications and a four percent increase in non-resident applications like Colorado State. One of the things about American higher education is the very rich diverse set of institutions that are out there. So many ways to get into the system. So many ways for people to make a choice and to succeed within that system.

But I think whenever there's an economic contraction, people look to that value proposition. They start to look at that combination of price, institutional reputation, array and breath of programs. People start to ask the question, how can I really step onto that ladder of success and help improve my position in life? And I think in general, America's comprehensive public research universities tend to see an up tick in applicants in that value proposition discussion.

WHITFIELD: OK. And Dr. Frank and Mr. Thornton, we're going to ask you to stick around because we've got lots of e-mail questions from people who are trying to figure out how do I afford this? No matter what college choices that I make. And there's also the argument, it's more than just how do I afford college? Perhaps you can't afford not to go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Watching and waiting and hoping the worst is over. All along the Red River in North Dakota and Minnesota, nerves are on edge after the river reached a flood level not seen in recorded history. But in Fargo, a bit of relief. The river has leveled off and is expected to stay around 41 feet over the next several days. The levees protecting the city are just two feet higher than that. It has been an exhausting few days for a lot of people in the region. They worked around the clock filling three million sandbags. And the Pentagon is pitching in to help as well. It has sent five Army helicopters to the region to help with evacuations and emergencies. Jacqui Jeras is in the severe weather center. All right. Jacqui, this is still not over.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. That's right, nobody is singing yet. That's for sure. You know, it's a great thing that we've seen the crest so far. But we're going to be maintaining this high level. And all that pressure still up against those dikes and levies, which are manmade, by the way. And with fluctuations to the weather in the next couple of days, we are not out of the woods.

We've had some seepage. We've had some cracks. And so, you know, there's no guarantee that we're still going to hold. So the threat is certainly not over and done with. Not to mention the miserable temperatures which have been well below freezing. Now the good news is we've seen some drops a little bit today. Let's go ahead and zoom in to the Fargo and Moorhead area and talk about that a little bit. So think the crest was just after 1:00 a.m. this morning. That was industrial time.

Let's show you the gauge and see what's been going on since that time. We've had a little bit of a drop. 40.82 feet. That was the peak. That's certainly a record. And now you can see, we're down to 40.61. But we've been staying there for about an hour or two. And it's going to be a very slow drop off. So there's a lot still to come. Now we could see some complications due to the weather. A new storm coming out of the Pacific could be bringing in some snow here Sunday night into Monday. Accumulations still kind of iffy right now. We're hopeful it will stay far enough south that it won't be a major storm and have lots of runoff and melting because temperatures will be warming up after this moves on through. And we're going to be looking at 40s before the end of the week. So we could see a secondary crest down the line. Certainly not over and done with.

Other weather headlines, severe weather with the threat of tornadoes across the southeast. We've had incredibly heavy rainfall along with flash flooding in parts of Alabama and southern parts of Georgia. We also have a blast of wintry weather across the plain states. Kansas City International Airport closed right now because of the heavy snow and icing that has been taking place. We have some i- Reports to show you. This one is an incredible story Fredricka. Take a look at these pictures, Peter Frei from the Fargo area, he lives in the briarwood neighborhood just south of Fargo. Apparently built his own dike in his front yard, and it broke this morning. So water started creeping up. There you can see him in his living room and eventually he had to get up to a second floor, he had to call for rescue. Coast Guard came and picked him and his friend and his father up. He's safe now but what an incredible story of what some people are going through as these manmade last minute dikes are being built. Some of the ones people have been making aren't holding.

WHITFIELD: And they've been working all weekend. We were fascinated by that image last week of what you called it a spider right.

JERAS: Yeah, the spider machine. Fills up the sandbags really, really fast.

WHITFIELD: That was extraordinary. Now we see how it works and how it's keeping everything in tact but still very dicey moments. Jacqui Jeras thanks so much, we'll keep checking back with you on these upper Midwest floods.

Back now to tackling tuition 101. Among the applicants applying for college these days, whether it's a four-year or a two-year, we're not just talking high school seniors who are looking to the fall. But it turns out a number of people who have been in the workforce are interested as well. Honing their skills or perhaps they've been laid off and they want a complete career change. Let's look at that full screen one more time. Some comparisons if you will on how much it will cost you to go to a community college. Roughly $2,000 on average across the year starting this fall semester versus a four year university we're talking just tuition not including room and board for that four-year university.

Let's talk about these options. How do you make it work. June Walbert is with us again out of New York. We have the Chakales family with us here in Atlanta, they're considering a four-year college come fall for Presley right over here, she's 17 years old. She has ideas about where she wants to go. June, let me begin with a few e-mails because we're being flooded by a number of e-mail questions from people and comments. Let's see our first one real quick. And I believe it comes from someone who says you know what, tuition is really high. I'm trying to figure out how to make it work. When we get that together we'll bring it to you. Talk to me about why it's so important. Even if you're trying to go to community college. How do you try to make the numbers work?

JUNE WALBERT, USAA CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: People make a lot more money throughout their working lifetime if they have a college education. About a million dollars more through their working years. That means a lot in terms of lifestyle, in terms of being able to save for retirement, in terms of being able to educate their own children. So it's an important thing to try to get your kids into college and out of college with very little to no debt.

WHITFIELD: Ok June, I was looking at the wrong thing. So here we go, here's the email question. Tuition cost is ridiculous, I go the University of Minnesota Twin Cities unfortunately my parents are not able to give me any money for school. So I'm forced to take out $10,000 in loans each semester. The government only gives me about $1500 in grants per semester. How do I lower my tuition?

WALBERT: She is just going to have to swallow hard and accept it I think in many ways. There is some government help, and she's already taken advantage of that. For families that make $100,000 or less there's also hope credit and lifetime credit opportunities as well. So look at all of the things that are available to you in your particular circumstances and there might be additional help out there for you.

WHITFIELD: All right, another e-mail coming to our Facebook, Fredrickawhifield/cnn page. I'm a single mother of three children, 18 headed to college, 15 headed to college in three years and 4, distant future college bound. But I totally get you, I feel it. What else can I do to help support my oldest afford an education. She talks about having bought a house last year, taking money out of her 401(k) to help with the purchase. But now she doesn't qualify for any grants as it pertains to education. What should she do?

WALBERT: I think that in this situation you sort of have to ponder. You can't necessarily always provide for your children in every way. They may have to fend for themselves to a certain extent. What I hope for is that the 18-year-old has great grades. Maybe was involved in athletics and was in some academic clubs and could possibly get some money that way.

WHITFIELD: Like Presley here. She's a great student and she can benefit from the Georgia Hope scholarship which is provided to kids of a certain GPA. Means free tuition. So Presley are you feeling any different about your prospects of school after hearing from June and thinking it all over, hearing from emailers too?

PRESLEY : Well it's definitely become more hard hitting that I really need to pay more attention to the in-state schools and probably I'm going to have to utilize the hope scholarship.

WHITFIELD: Are you feeling kind of bummed about that or are you still, you know, ok, rah rah?

PRESLEY: I still think I'll be able to figure out a way to do part of what I want to do and make it work financially.

WHITFIELD: Then, June, one more, I wish my parents would have started investing a college fund like a 529. Peter and Ann did plan for their kids' education. I don't know if the 529 is something you all went for. You did, ok. Now, Ashley says here I joined the army national guard. They pay 100 percent tuition, monthly living stipend as well as school supplies such as books. I guess this is more a comment than it is a question. But this is a great option isn't it?

WALBERT: It really is. Presley I don't know if you want to strap on your combat boots or not but really there are some wonderful --

WHITFIELD: I'm not laughing because she is an equestrian so she's athletic.

WALBERT: I'm sure that she could handle it. I am. There are some wonderful education benefits there. You know what I love best about Presley and her parents, is that they're having that frank discussion. There's nothing hidden here. The parents are talking to her. She's listening to them. She's trying to understand and talk to them about what she wants and needs and now as a result is willing to compromise ultimately. So my hats off to you. I would do that hope scholarship at least for the first two years.

WHITFIELD: All right, fantastic. Much more of tackling tuition 101. We're going to be joined once again by the university representatives who have a bit of advice as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Welcome back to tackling tuition 101. President Obama says the nation is going to need the help of every American if it's going to compete in the global economy. He talked about the importance of higher education in his address to congress just last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. It can be a community college or a four-year school. Vocational training or an apprenticeship. Whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma. Dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not just quitting on yourself, it's quitting on your country. This country needs and values the talents of every American.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The bottom line it costs money. Peter Chakales here along with his family Ann and their 17-year-old Presley. Peter has a question for you June Walbert in New York, financial planner, help him out.

PETER CHAKALES: June, at what point will we stop contributing to Presley's 529?

WALBERT: Well, it depends. Does Presley want to go through a four-year program or onto graduate school?

PETER: Onto graduate.

WALBERT: It makes a lot of sense to continue contributing to the 529 if you're getting a state tax deduction for one thing with your particular plan. Otherwise, if you want to go ahead and continue to contribute, there's going to be some growth that's experienced in there if it's in conservative investments because of the power of tax deferred compounding. So you need to check your investments in there, Peter, and make sure that they are appropriate for your time horizon.

WHITFIELD: Ok, we want to bring back our educators, our representatives of the universities. Dr. Alvin Thornton is with us from Howard University interim provost. And Dr. Anthony Frank of Colorado State University back with us as well. Dr. Thornton, let me begin with you. Are you finding that more applicants, more students who want to be at Howard University and want to call themselves a bison are having to ask for some kind of assistance because economic times are really, really tough. How is the university advising students on affording Howard?

DR. ALVIN THORNTON, HOWARD UNIVERSITY INTERIM PROVOST: More students are indeed asking us for assistance and that's understandable. We've responded to that by creating for the first time a need-based financial aid program. What we're saying to students is that if you qualify to enroll at Howard University, which is a very competitive national research university, then we will make it possible for you to enroll at Howard. We will give you a combination of merit based assistance combined with need based assistance and we'll combine that with private support from our endowment and from donors.

WHITFIELD: Is it a situation where as a student you better come in there with that knowledge to ask for that, or is that something that you offer straight off the bat?

THORNTON: A student who is admitted we give that student a package which outlines what that student is eligible for. And that package contains some things that I just described to you. The principle at Howard University is that if you can get in, which is very difficult to do, we will help to finance your education. The important thing is to qualify to get into the university.

WHITFIELD: And Dr. Frank, how about for you? I know that you've already said this is still the country that offers the best education at an affordable way. But when you hear averages like $20,000 and $30,000, gosh, that doesn't sound affordable. What do you tell people? What do you advise parents, what are the key phrases or words they need to ask for to get assistance?

DR. ANTHONY FRANK, INTERIM PRES., COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY: There's a full spectrum of programs out there as you've pointed out ranging from starting with community colleges to state schools all the way up to the privates. Even the state schools are contributing large amounts in financial aid. The single largest discretionary portion of our budget is traditionally toward financial aid and the amount of that budget is increasing at a much more dramatic pace than our tuition increases have been.

WHITFIELD: Ok, I have another e-mail if I just ask of you. I think we have time for that, right? My daughter has already earned her undergraduate degree and has been accepted into law school. Do you have any advice as to how she might find the maximum funding available for this endeavor? Dr. Thornton I'm going to ask you because Howard University has a very fine law school. She might be posing a question for someone else who's interested in Howard law?

THORNTON: Absolutely. Howard Law, the source of Thurgood Marshall. We have merit-based very attractive scholarships at the Howard Law School. And I'm sure most of the law schools do. So a student should certainly apply directly to the financial aid office at Howard's law school or any other law school. And normally if the student gets in, the student has a certain LSAT score, the student will be offered scholarship assistance. I would encourage that student to apply to Howard University's law school.

WHITFIELD: Ok, Dr. Alvin Thornton, Howard University, Dr. Anthony Frank, Colorado State University. Thanks so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

All right so we've been talking primarily about college tuition, but I don't know if you've noticed these days. Private school for primary and secondary education, the tuition can be just as painful. So how in the world do you ensure the best education for your child no matter what the age without breaking the family bank?

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WHITFIELD: We'll continue our discussion tackling tuition 101 in a few minutes. First, remember taking notes by hand at college? Not anymore. CNN's Becky Anderson explains how some medical students are learning on the edge of discovery.

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Imperial College London in real life. This is Imperial College London in second life, an online community located in the virtual world. These medical students are checking on patients in this online hospital's respiratory ward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't talk to each other here in the physical world.

ANDERSON: Students roam the hospital wards with digital characters called avatars. Once inside they act just like real doctors in a real hospital, washing their hands before seeing patients and checking x-rays.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can order a test. It will go together nicely.

ANDERSON: This program takes medical training to another dimension quite literally.

PROF. MARTYN PARTRIDGE, IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON: This sort of research is vital if we're going to make sure tomorrow's doctors are as well trained as you and I want them to be.

ANDERSON: For now it's not part of the official curriculum. And the program isn't meant to replace face to face training with real patients. But it's also an interesting diversion on a road to medical career.

JIEXIN ZHENG, MEDICAL STUDENT: It felt like playing a game, a nice way of learning.

ANDERSON: Becky Anderson, CNN, London.

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WHITFIELD: All right, so your child is in primary or secondary school, and it almost seems as though you're paying college tuition already because private school costs so much. Meet this man who is very inventive in very desperate times.

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ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Unemployed single dad Tim Randall has six kids to get off to school. After breakfast and brushing, it's backpacks on and piling into the backseat for a brief ride to school. 11-year-old Latina, the eldest, is dropped off last at St. Phillips's Academy. It's a private school for promising children where she's thriving while attending on a full scholarship.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We get treated like a family so everyone is treated like brothers and sisters. Everyone is treated equally.

CHERNOFF: Latina began attending St. Phillips last fall, several months after her father lost his information technology job. Tim fell behind on rent and was on the verge of being evicted with his six kids. St. Phillips reached out to donors who overnight raised enough not only to pay up Tim's rent and utilities but also pay three months forward to provide a cushion while he continues hunting for work.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Tim Randall is with us now from New York. Tim, continued best luck on your search for a job. Meantime, I know you are holding down the fort with six kids. So explain to me briefly why is you chose private school for one daughter and public for the others?

TIM RANDALL, UNEMPLOYED, SINGLE FATHER OF 6: I felt at the time that my daughter was going to school, she was graduating out of fifth grade. I needed to put her in a better school to get her higher. To get in private schools she had to have academics be on the top of her list. So what I did was I looked around for schools and then I came in contact with St. Phillips. I felt that St. Phillips was the best school for her.

WHITFIELD: You're happy with her education. Thankfully the St. Phillips community has really banded together to make sure that she can continue to attend school throughout the school year, especially while you're looking for a job. Something I thought was really remarkable about what you told me. You are trying to share the wealth so to speak of your one daughter who has got private school education. When she comes home with her homework, you make sure that the other children, 10, 9, 8 and 5 right, are learning from that same material. So this is how you are filling in the gaps, so to speak, to make sure that they are all on a level playing field. Is it working?

RANDALL: Oh, yes, it is. Because actually just on that note, yesterday Mr. Brito had called me and said to me, you know, you can bring the other kids into the school. Now that they will be going to the school and now that they have some kind of idea how the school work because I've been training them with the education that they had.

WHITFIELD: Wow, so you've almost been home schooling in some respects. Emily Jennette, teacher of the year for 2008 in Georgia, you're with us now because we thought you could help guide us and a lot of parents out there who are in this quandary, private school, public school. Economics has a lot to do with why people are making the decisions they are having to make come the next school year. He's doing some pretty incredible things and you say there are other things that you could be doing to maximize your child's learning and it doesn't mean counting on the classroom, it means beginning that connection at home.

EMILY JENNETTE, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM SPECIALIST: That's right, thanks Fredricka. First of all I applaud that father for his commitment and dedication and its great to see a partnership between the families and schools. My best advice to give to that family and to other families out there is to continue that partnership as well as seeking opportunities outside of the school. I tell my parents all the time that school -- learning doesn't start and stop at my door. It happens every day and everywhere. I would encourage families to provide enriching experiences for their children in addition to the homework that they bring home, to provide them with life application there in the house. Whether it be going to the grocery store and making a list of the items that you need with your younger children.

WHITFIELD: Kind of fostering some independence.

JENNETTE: That's right. And having them figure out if you do an allowance and they do chores, what it means to buy one thing versus buying another and cost versus savings. Those are things that you can prepare them even for college for.

WHITFIELD: And we thought it was fitting because even though we're talking about tuition, people automatically think college tuition, we incorporated this, too, because at 15,000, sometimes $20,000 for your child to go to fourth grade education, a lot of parents who can afford that make that decision because they think they're putting their child in a better position to compete when it comes down to college applications,. Something I thought was interesting, you said talk, model, listen and assist. These are ways in which to instill the love of learning in your child no matter what the age and no matter whether it's zero tuition or $20,000.

JENNETTE: Exactly. And I think -- the keyword there is to listen to your children. Even as educators we need to listen to our students and what their interests are, where their dreams and hopes lie. I think even at the beginning years, I'm a primary school teacher. I can see the light in their eyes in wanting to know about professions and what it means to continue to succeed. The most important thing is that we model success for our students. I think the father there is a perfect example of someone that's dedicated in showing his children whether they're the youngest in the family or the oldest how important it truly is to be dedicated to something but at the same time to have those experiences and listen to them, listen to what they want to do.

WHITFIELD: And Tim, do you feel like your children now because of this private school education they're in a better position now in your view to be able to get that college acceptance letter by the time they're 18?

RANDALL: Oh, yes. I feel that they're starting at the right age to be able to make it to the college, get that letter stating that they can go to the college they really want to.

WHITFIELD: All right Tim, sorry to cut you off. Tim Randall thanks so much, joining us from New York. The Chakales family here, Peter, Ann, Presley. One last opportunity for you to ask anything about how do I make sure that Presley gets into college? We know she's in because she's gotten acceptance letters from everyone. But how do we afford it? One last opportunity perhaps to June or perhaps to even Emily.

PRESLEY: I have a question. Would it be plausible to get student loans for my undergraduate education if I'm positively planning on going to graduate school, which I would have to take out more loans for that as well?

WHITFIELD: June, you want to tackle that?

WALBERT: Well, you have to do what you have to do. I like the idea of going to the graduate school level while you're in the mood for school if you will. So yeah, loans are probably in your future but I would like to add one more thing. Ann said she wanted the chance to retire at some point in time. Never forsake your retirement for your kid's education. Your retirement has to come first. Love our kids, but we have to retire, too.

WHITFIELD: I've heard that before, keep them separate. June Walbert, thanks so much, financial expert. To the Chakales family, Peter, Ann, Presley, thanks so much. And Emily Jennette, also appreciate it. Of course earlier we had Dr. Alvin Thornton with Howard University, Dr. Anthony Frank of Colorado State University. Everybody who has been involved in this. And of course all of you who sent your e-mails, appreciate it. That's tackling tuition 101. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, see you again tomorrow. The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

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