"Look Ma, I did something useful on the web today"

I was enjoying a steamy cup of cappuccino with my friend, Marla, one morning when the conversation turned to my new- found passion for the internet.
"A great way to waste time," Marla informed me, drawing upon her vast experience, which does not include owning a computer of her own.
"Well . . . sometimes," I replied. "But it's also an incredible source of information." "Hmmmph."

Marla is from Missouri. I would have to show her. She had mentioned earlier that she and her husband were concerned about their son's upcoming college education. They were overwhelmed with the expense involved, and not too sure how they were going to manage.

I went to work that night to see what I could find on the web. Within minutes I found CollegeNet , which offers an extensive searchable database, financial aid and graduate program directories, as well as links to many academic sources.

"Preparing Your Child for College," by the U.S. Department of Education has a useful section on financing a college education.

The Student Guide is another government document that contains information about eligibility for government grants and programs of all kinds.

Would Marla's family qualify for government money? I don't know, but it doesn't matter because the next site I accessed was a gold mine. Student Services contains more than 180,000 scholarships, grants, fellowships, and loans representing billions of dollars in private-sector funding for U.S. students. Hmmmm, maybe I should go back to school . . . .

A few more clicks took me to Adventures in Education , an interactive site that offers information and services to help choose a school, financing, and career planning. Not only a great source of information, this site offers a fun guided tour.

I stumbled into a nearly overwhelming amount of valuable information when I found FinAid: The Financial Aid Information Page. Almost everything you could want to know about finding financial aid sources for all types of people and needs. They ask the question: "Why pay a financial aid service to run a search when they offer FIVE search databases that are free?" Good question.

Certainly everything my friend might need could be found right here. But just in case she came up with a truly original question, I found one more indispensable site. Ask the Aid Advisor offers over seventy-five financial administrators and professionals who volunteer their time to answer questions concerning financial aid for education. Now only one thing remained to be done--call Marla and suggest another cup of cappuccino. Was my friend convinced? Well, I'm busy running another search for her right now. She's shopping for a computer . . . .