The following chapter has been excerpted from College Planning for Gifted Students. This book is a must-have for any gifted or advanced learner planning to attend college. This book offers advice for writing application essays, selecting and visiting colleges, and acing the college entrance interview.

College planning is a major event in the lives of many families. Some parents dress their infants in tiny clothing bearing their alma mater’s colors and mascots, certain that someday, their child will follow in their footsteps. Other families claim to “bleed” maroon, burnt orange, navy blue and gold, or crimson red, with generations of family members attending the same university. Across the nation, longtime rivalries are upheld during football and basketball season, and carried over to friendly gameday disputes between siblings, friends, or neighbors who chose to attend competing universities. Only in America is the decal from almost any college displayed proudly on the rear window of the family car.

The hopes and dreams of many American families are connected to a college education. We are surrounded by reminders of higher education—everything from ads for college financing, to slick TV descriptions of the competing universities during halftime at the fall football games on Saturday afternoons, to a TV series about a rock star finally going to college. In the 21st century, attending college is part of the American success story.

High school students and their parents often have strong feelings about attending, or not attending college, but once the decision is made to go, choosing the right college becomes a different matter altogether. The path from secondary to higher education is poorly marked. Students surveyed for this book said that trying to select a college is confusing, because there is no sound basis for making a decision. They felt overwhelmed by the amount of mail they received from colleges each day featuring sports, special programs, and stately granite buildings set on idyllic grassy knolls or downtown in bustling cities. Each brochure seems to say, “Choose me!” without giving any clues as to what would be required to actually attend that school. Is it any wonder that students felt overwhelmed? The goal has been set, with no instructions as to how to achieve it.

Why go to college? Maybe a better question is, “What do you want to do for the rest of your life?” Education, career choices, and future earnings are all related to this decision. In 1997, President Clinton referred to education as “the fault line between those who will prosper in the new economy and those who will not” (¶ 1). His words are truer today than ever before.

Consider the following statistics from the U.S. Department of Education (2004):

• A high school dropout earned $22,100 per year in 2001.
• A high school graduate earned $30,056.
• A college graduate earned $54,704.
• In 1998, the male college graduate, aged 25 to 34, earned 63% more than his counterpart who did not attend college.

According to the 2001 U.S. Census, college graduates earned $1 million more during their lifetimes than high school graduates. Looking at this another way, the lifetime earnings of a person with a college degree is about three times that of a person without this education, or $1.5 million versus $500,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2004).

A recent research study (Barrow & Rouse, 2005) echoed the above results. Researchers estimated that the average cost of earning a 4-year college degree is about $107,277, which includes the average cost of tuition (about $30,000 for 4 years), plus the salary these young people would have earned if they had gone to work right out of high school. Using the latest data, they estimated that a college degree would boost the total lifetime earnings of a student who entered school in 2003 by $402,959 over what they would have earned if they skipped college. That means the net value of a degree to the average student is roughly $295,682. A typical college graduate can expect to recoup his or her investment within 10 years.

We all have heard about people who became highly successful without a college education, but they are in the minority. We know who they are because their unusual achievement stands out. People without an education and job-related skills have a more difficult time finding work because they are competing against those who have more training. Further, if parents do not have a college education, the chances are that their children also will not attend college, primarily because their children never receive practical advice on applying to and attending college (Plank & Jordan, 2001). The reverse is also true: If you went to college, your children are more than twice as likely to attend.

Roughly two out of three young Americans do not go on to any form of higher education, and many of those who do enroll in postsecondary education don’t end up graduating (Rowe, 2005). Almost half of those who never enrolled or dropped out said college wasn’t for them because they wanted to work and make money. Almost as many said they couldn’t afford college. Yet, by age 33, according to the College Board, the typical college graduate has earned enough to compensate for the cost of attending a 4-year public college or university, and has made up for his earnings passed up during his college years (Baum & Payea, 2004).

Some benefits of a college education are subtle, but real. The acquisition of knowledge is a very personal thing. People who go to college use the knowledge they acquire for the rest of their lives, and will continue to expand their knowledge and skills, express their thoughts more clearly in speech and in writing, grasp abstract concepts and theories, and increase their understanding of the world and community. College is likely to promote a love of learning in people as a result of developing new interests and passions.

Until people go away to college, their friends are acquired largely by circumstance from among their neighbors, the children they associate with in the first 12 grades of school, athletics teammates, religious education classmates, and other settings. Going away to college exposes an individual to a diverse group of people—some good, some not so good—and at a minimum, it provides more options from which to choose. The world is a rich place, full of places and experiences that can hardly be imagined by a person who never leaves his or her hometown. College exposes us to people from different national, ethnic, and religious groups, to different social and political ideas, to different income levels or ways of life, and even different ways of learning or absorbing information. A college education gives us courage to try new things, fosters our imagination to create new things, and gives us the freedom to think critically about everything we will ever see or hear in our lifetimes.

There are more than 3,500 colleges and universities in the United States. Choosing from among them is a complex task. Some students, particularly those who are gifted, are concerned about college and begin planning for it as early as elementary school. That being said, there are still many high school students who approach college planning and selection with less thought than they give to purchasing a video game or a new item of clothing. Lacking a plan, they may make arbitrary decisions based on inadequate information culled from a Web site, friend, or relative, simply because they do not know how to define the personal criteria needed to make college and career decisions. Far too many teenagers are simply not aware of how colleges differ, or how they can match their individual needs, wants, and desires with what a particular college may have to offer.

For many high school students, college planning is a finite process that begins and ends arbitrarily and abruptly. This process typically begins with participation in the Preliminary SAT©/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) during 11th grade, and ends with the receipt of acceptance or rejection letters from the schools to which the student applied. Between the two milestones—the PSAT and letters of acceptance—students must select colleges they want to attend, complete a number of standardized achievement tests, and submit their applications. For many, the information they gather during the 11th and 12th grade is deemed sufficient to make decisions. For gifted students, however, a much longer process is necessary.

Gifted students should be concerned about and begin planning for college as early as the seventh grade, although many think about it earlier. They tend to make short mental lists that swing from one extreme to another: from “brand name” colleges, such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford, to popular state or community institutions. Their angst increases with each school year, building toward an event such as taking the PSAT, SAT, or ACT test. For gifted students, college planning should be one step in a life development process that takes place between 7th and 12th grade. This process begins with your child’s self-awareness and ends with matching his or her needs with college offerings. Between those two points, you can expect your child to acquire many new skills and experiences, and grow with each activity. As your child grows in experience and self-awareness, he will be increasingly able to plan his future based on his talents, skills, interests, needs, values, and passions.

This guide is for parents and adolescents in the midst of the complex process of college and career planning. Parents, much of the book will speak to your concerns as you work with your child, but some sections are meant to be used by your child, and are therefore addressed to the student. Throughout the book you will find charts and checklists that will help you and your teen gradually come closer to selecting a list of appropriate colleges. While you and your child go through some of the exercises in the book, there are several things to keep in mind:

• There is no such thing as the perfect school. The college experience, like life, is a series of trade-offs. Most students should be able to identify several different types of schools appropriate for them. This does not mean that they would have identical experiences at each school, only that their experiences would be equally positive.
• The path from point A, knowing oneself, to point B, a satisfying college experience, does not necessarily follow a smooth progression. Adolescents develop intellectually, socially, and emotionally at inconsistent rates. They face the challenge of making a critical decision on college selection at a point in their lives when they have not finished “becoming themselves.” Parents, teachers, and counselors should encourage students to think of college selection as the first step in what may ultimately be a multistep process. For example, the college environment suitable for a student’s freshman and sophomore years may be unacceptable for the final 2 years, because the student—not the college—has changed. In such a case, transferring to another college is a realistic and positive option. This is an important point for the student who wants to attend a highly selective school, but does not have the qualifications to do so. A year at a less selective school may be followed by a transfer to the original school of choice if the student uses that year to prove he or she is capable of working at a challenging level.
• The most selective colleges receive more than 10 applications for every freshman vacancy. A large percentage of these applicants are highly qualified. If your adolescent aspires to a highly selective college, you can expect a highly competitive application review. Because your student’s credentials will be examined so carefully and critically, knowing what he or she is up against before you begin can help make the college search more realistic.

Many college planning guides provide slick marketing tips for college applicants. But, unless the match between your child’s needs and interests and the school’s offering is truly a good one—and there is no way of knowing that without going through the kinds of activities proposed in this guide—students may be disappointed.

Students who can ask and begin to answer questions about themselves are on the road to developing self-awareness. When they can begin to ask and answer questions about colleges and relate those answers to themselves, they are prepared to begin the college selection process. Students discover themselves—that is, they identify personal values, aptitudes, and needs—and they learn how to conduct a college search through a multistep process. Ideally, this process should begin by seventh grade, with specific events occurring each subsequent year. However, the process can be shortened; it is never too late to begin. Included at the end of this chapter is a timeline to help your child throughout the college planning process.

Parents Providing Support and Encouragement

College planning and ultimately the transition to college are life-changing events for most teens, but keep in mind that all teens will have different reactions to the process. Some start making lists of potential colleges in the 7th grade, while others have not yet made plans for college at the start of 12th grade. One type of student may post rejection letters on a bedroom bulletin board, another may let the process affect her self-esteem, and a third student may take it in stride. Selecting a college is one of the first adult choices in life. There are no perfect solutions or clear-cut alternatives. It’s an event that signals a transition to adulthood. Parents are often confused about how much guidance they can and should provide. You may teeter between withdrawal and taking over the process, not knowing how to strike a balance. You have an important role—becoming an informed consumer, and setting clear and realistic goals that reduce the pressure and keep things in perspective. You should support, encourage, and even empathize with your teenager, remembering your own experiences as a young adult. When you take time to learn about college planning and how it differs from your experience or that of someone you know, you can truly make a positive difference. As one student told her parents, “the best thing you did was to laugh at my jokes.” She was talking about having perspective, or college planning without any angst.

Some things for parents to keep in mind include the following:

• Getting into a brand-name school does not improve one’s life. Teaching and learning are often better in schools you’ve never heard of.
• Be a guide on the side, gently encouraging your child, rather than an all-knowing sage on the stage. Be ready and able to demonstrate an understanding of the pressures these students are experiencing. Provide support.
• Know the critical skills your child needs to make major decisions.
• Understand how he or she defines the important characteristics of his or her ideal college.
• Help your child find specific institutions that meet his or her individual needs.
• Set clear and realistic goals that reduce the pressure on your child and keep things in perspective.
• Think of yourself as a shepherd. Your job is to guide and protect. Some parents avoid interfering by withdrawing. Some parents are overbearing. Neither extreme is useful.
• Discuss college openly, gearing conversation toward what your son or daughter needs from a college and why—city or country environment, emphasis on Greek life, sports, student/faculty ratio, class size, special programs, etc.
• Listen to your youngster. Pay particular attention to what attracts him or her to certain schools.
• Do not type applications, correct essays, or call colleges for information for your child. When a student has questions, an admissions office would prefer to hear from the student.
• Do keep track of dates such as those for standardized tests, admissions deadlines, financial aid deadlines, and so forth. Adolescents experience considerable pressure during their last 2 years in high school. Often, they need someone else to keep track of some of the details.
• Do make photocopies of all applications because it’s almost inevitable that a big typo will crawl onto the page. Proofread everything for errors, but do not make style or grammar changes. Do not edit your child’s work. Be sure to make copies of completed applications.
• Discuss any limitations up front. Find out all you can about financial aid. If money is a problem, as it is for most people, discuss it rationally and explain that the family will need to take advantage of available scholarships, loans, or any other source of funds. But, don’t restrict your child’s choices based solely on cost, because some colleges provide financial aid to all of their students.
• The college planning process is part of a life development process in which there are no right answers. The process is different for every person because the goal is to make a match between your child’s strengths and interests and college offerings. The college that is perfect for someone you know may be totally wrong for your child. Let your student make his or her final decisions and own the process.
• The college search is like an arranged marriage. Make the best match you can—love will come later.

The search for the ideal college begins well before a student’s senior year in high school. There are many things students must do prior to their senior year to lay the groundwork for the college search. The following timeline is approximately what students need to complete during the middle and high school years, and should be given to students for their personal use. It provides hints and tips on what your student can do to make sure he or she is on schedule.

• If your family hasn’t started saving for college, start now.
• In the seventh and eighth grades, classes are divided into separate academic subjects. Take advantage of opportunities to explore and investigate new academic areas and extracurricular activities.
• Take time to learn about yourself.
• Examine and evaluate academic options that may be available in your community. For example, is a high school magnet program available? Are school enrichment programs offered in your community? Looking ahead, does your community offer schools with an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) program? If you hope to attend a high school with a challenging academic program, plan now. Investigate all of these avenues.
• If you think you might benefit from an accelerated program, there are several ways to accomplish this, including sources of enrichment such as regional talent search programs, university-based summer programs, internships, mentorships, and working toward college credit in high school.
• Many seventh-grade students take the SAT or the ACT assessment test between seventh and eighth grade in order to become eligible for talent search programs, as well as other opportunities. Ask your guidance counselor how you can participate in a regional talent search process by taking the SAT, ACT, or another nationally normed test. Some talent search programs will accept a standardized test used by your school. Students who require extended time, fee waivers, or an alternative day of the week because of religious reasons should contact talent search programs early in September.
• Many summer programs offer a variety of opportunities for you to explore interests, try new academic courses, refine skills, make friends, and live away from home. Summer programs vary in quality, so investigate them carefully. If the price of a program prevents you from participating, find out whether scholarships are available from the program or from local sources. Some summer programs offer partial scholarships to match local gifts.
• If you are ready, seek opportunities to obtain high school credit, particularly in foreign languages and mathematics.
• Begin to think objectively and realistically about your abilities, aptitudes, values, and interests, and how you learn best. Begin to think about your aspirations and goals.
• Seek ways to expand your horizons. Take risks and try new courses and activities. Some high-school-level courses you take now may appear on your high school transcript. However, the grades you earn in middle school classes will be far less important to colleges than the grades you earn in high school.
• Investigate ways to study efficiently and manage your time. You will find a learning strategies database online (see http://www.muskingum.edu/home/cal) that can help.
• Read a wide variety of materials, including books, newspapers, and magazines.
• Practice your writing skills. Keep a journal. Write short stories, poetry, and prose, and enter contests. Are you working on a mathematics or science project? Record your impressions and prepare a story about your work. Submit your work to your school newspaper and other publications.
• Look for opportunities to do volunteer work.

• During this year, discuss the transition to high school with your parents and guidance counselor. Develop a master plan that includes an academic plan listing courses required for high school graduation and courses you want to take during the next 4 years. Select courses that are as challenging as you think you can handle.
• Many people have trouble managing time. There is always more that we want to do and less time to do it. When you draft your 4-year plan, try to create a time management plan that will address the hours you spend in classes, the hours needed for homework, and the time you want for extracurricular interests, family activities, rest, and relaxation. Keep your time management plan flexible and creative, not overstructured. You can review it once in a while to see if it needs adjustment.
• Look for ways to investigate career options and opportunities. Talk to family and friends about what they do at work from the time they arrive, to the time they leave. Although seventh or eighth grade is much too early to make college and career decisions, you can learn something to use later on.
• Volunteer your time. This is an excellent way to explore careers and develop community spirit.
• Look for ways to strengthen your study skills in specific academic areas. Improving study skills can help you manage your time wisely.
• Plan a creative summer. Many programs have early enrollment deadlines. Start planning no later than December.

• By ninth grade, you should have drafted a 4-year plan that will help you decide the courses you need, and how you can use your in-school and afterschool hours most effectively. Build a flexible schedule that will accommodate time for studying, extracurricular activities, exercise, and relaxing.
• Find out about the extracurricular activities you would like to become involved in. Look for activities that include community service or leadership opportunities. Share your talents with others by volunteering. Helping others is a great way to learn something about yourself. Pursue any hobbies or sports that interest you. Get involved.
• Register for the PSAT and take it for practice. Obtain a free Student Bulletin (visit http://www.collegeboard.com) to learn what the test is like, how students may prepare, and how scores are reported and used. Make sure you are practicing with the latest version of the test.
• The more selective colleges will check to see whether or not your courses represent the most challenging program offered by your high school. If you want challenging courses in 11th and 12th grade, you need to take the prerequisites. Think about the following:
  • What courses are required for high school graduation?
  • How many years of each subject are required for college admission?
  • What additional academic areas would you like to explore that are not offered by your high school (e.g., philosophy, archaeology)? Consider a summer program.
  • What extracurricular activities do you want to fit into your schedule?
  • What activities are you committed to that you want to continue?
  • What activities do you want to eliminate?
  • What portion of college costs will be your responsibility? Do you need to work during high school?
• If your high school includes a career center or multimedia center, get to know the people who work there and the resources available. Explore computer-assisted college planning programs.
• Read widely. Exposure to different kinds of material will improve your vocabulary and language skills. Read newspapers (your local paper, The New York Times, USA Today, and others), magazines (news, business, sports, and special interest magazines), and books (biography, history, science fiction, adventure, novels, poetry, and drama).
• In the spring, review your 4-year plan with your guidance counselor and parents and decide if you can handle highly challenging courses the following year.

• The PSAT/NMSQT is given in October. Be sure to sign up. In 11th grade, your PSAT scores are used to determine your eligibility for the National Merit Scholarship and the National Merit Hispanic Scholarship. Scores don’t count this year—just take the PSAT for practice. See your guidance counselor for instructions on how to sign up.
• Through the PSAT, you may get mail from colleges and universities that are interested in students like you. Start a filing system to organize the information you receive. A couple of oversized shoe boxes may work for now, but later you will want something that is easier to use, such as file folders.
• Become familiar with college reference books published by the College Board, Peterson’s, Fiske, and other organizations. Visiting a local library or bookstore will help you get to know different types of reference materials and what each can do for you.
• Visit a nearby college and take a tour. Check to see whether your school has college videos.
• Take SAT Subject Tests at the end of 10th grade in any subjects in which you have done well but do not plan to continue studying in high school (e.g., biology, foreign language). Most students take the subject tests toward the end of their junior year or at the beginning of their senior year, but you should take tests in subjects such as world history, biology, chemistry, or physics as soon as possible after completing the corresponding courses, while the material is still fresh in your mind. For foreign language tests, you’ll do better after at least 2 years of study.
• Plan a meaningful summer activity. Consider an internship, volunteer work, travel, or spending time with someone who works in a career that interests you.
• Get more involved in your favorite extracurricular activity. Look for leadership opportunities. Colleges look for depth of involvement.
• Continue reading a wide variety of materials. The more you read, the broader your vocabulary will expand.
• Look into careers. Investigate computer-assisted career guidance programs such as Career Occupational Preference System (COPS; http://www.edits.net/cops.html), Career Options (http://www.rileyguide.com/careers.html), SIGI³ (http://www.valparint.com), or DISCOVER (http://www.act.org/discover). If your school doesn’t have them, ask the nearest community college career center.
• Find out whether or not your high school administers vocational aptitude tests, interest inventories, learning style inventories, or personality tests. Take all available assessment tests and make an appointment with your counselor to discuss the results.
• Become familiar with the O*net Dictionary of Occupational Titles and the Occupational Outlook Handbook (see pp. 82–84 for more information on these and other resources). Pick one or two careers and read about them. Spend some time with someone who works in those fields.
• By the end of 10th grade, review your 4-year plan and high school transcript with your guidance counselor and parents. Plan for 11th grade by signing up for challenging academic courses, but leave time for rest, relaxation, family activities, your favorite extracurricular activities, and community service.

• Discuss college plans with your parents and counselor. Your parents should make an appointment with your counselor to facilitate these discussions. Family discussions with a student’s counselor early in the year help clarify everyone’s expectations.
• Begin the college search process. Attend College Night at your school and go to an area college fair. Speak with college representatives when they visit your school, even if you think you are not interested in the school they represent. Compare and contrast what they tell you, what you have read, and what you have seen for yourself.
• Sign up for the October PSAT. This time the scores count! Obtain a Student Bulletin (free from the College Board) to learn what the test is like, how you may prepare, and how your scores are reported and used. (See http://www.collegeboard.com for more information.)
• Make sure you are familiar with the most recent changes to the SAT or the ACT. Ask your target schools which test they prefer and plan to take one or the other in the spring.
• If your scores are not as high as you expected, consider taking a prep course. Remember, the cost of a course may not reflect its quality. Try to find one in which the instructor will analyze your answer sheet, provide you with specific information on your strengths and weaknesses, and offer tips and hints on how to raise your scores. There are Web sites that will do this too, such as Barnes & Noble’s Sparknotes (http://www.sparknotes.com).
• Take SAT Subject Tests in subjects you will complete at the end of this school year or in courses such as a foreign language, even if you plan to continue taking the courses in further depth.
• If you are taking AP courses and doing extremely well, consider taking AP tests. Choose carefully: Some colleges offer exemption, credit, or both for AP grades of 3, 4, or 5. If you take AP tests someplace other than your school, be sure your grades are reported to your high school and sent to the college of your choice.
• Discuss finances with your family. Plan now for summer or part-time jobs if your family expects you to pay for part of your education. Begin early.
• Keep up a good level of academic achievement. This is the year that really counts. Balance work, play, and extracurricular activities. Colleges like to see an upward trend in your grade point average.
• Request financial aid bulletins from all of your target schools. Go online to get the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and take your family through the process of completing one (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov).
• If you want to play sports for a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I or II team, register with the NCAA Clearinghouse (1-800-638-3731, or go to http://www.ncaa.org) before the end of your junior year.
• By the end of 11th grade, review your 4-year plan and high school transcript with your parents and guidance counselor. Are you satisfied with your progress? Are you accomplishing your goals?

• Review your list of colleges. You should have a file on each college you are considering.
• Review admissions criteria for the schools that interest you. Send for applications.
• Many colleges use data from CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE© to provide nonfederal financial aid. Begin applying online at https://profileonline.collegeboard.com.
• Begin the scholarship search. Check out http://www.fastweb.com and http://www.finaid.org. Complete and mail the FAFSA or submit it electronically after January 1.
• Identify at least two teachers and two other people who know you well who could write solid recommendations for you. If you are applying for early admission or early decision, line up recommendations as soon as possible. Make appointments to see them to review your accomplishments and goals. Follow up. It is your responsibility to make sure that letters of recommendation arrive before the colleges’ deadlines.
• Sign up to retake the SAT or ACT if you think you can raise your scores. Make sure that your SAT or ACT scores are sent to your guidance counselor and the schools to which you are applying. Review your scores with your guidance counselor and ask for an interpretation that relates to the schools you are considering.
• Check out http://www.commonapp.org to see which colleges accept the common application, and fill it out if necessary.
• Find out when your high school registrar or guidance counselor sends your applications, transcripts, letters of recommendation, and supporting materials to the colleges. Early in December is typical, but some high schools set earlier deadlines. Early decision deadlines are usually in November. If your school does not send application forms and supporting material to the colleges for you, then you must be sure to send everything on time. Pay attention to deadlines.
• Photocopy everything before sending the application packages to colleges.
• Carefully review your high school transcript. If some courses listed are not easy to identify, be sure to add a description of those courses. An example is an honors course that doesn’t say “honors” in the course name. Also, be sure your school profile or transcript supplement is included, especially if you are applying out of state, where admissions staff might not be familiar with your high school.
• Maintain or continue to improve your academic standing. Most colleges look unfavorably upon an applicant whose grades are falling. Schools will revoke admission for students whose grades have slipped. If one of your grades is falling, you may want to write a letter of explanation.
• Visit the colleges you are seriously considering.
• Update your college planning portfolio. Be sure to add recent achievements and new events that have occurred.
• If you haven’t received any financial aid packages by April, call the colleges to make sure the necessary information arrived. Send the acceptance notice and a deposit to the college you have chosen. Shop for school supplies!

Barrow, L., & Rouse, C. E. (2005). Does college still pay? Retrieved December 5, 2005, from http://www.bepress.com/ev/vol2/iss4/art3

Baum, S., & Payea, K. (2004). Education pays: The benefits of higher education for individuals and society. New York: College Entrance Examination Board.

Plank, S. B., & Jordan, W. J. (2001). Effects of information, guidance, and actions on postsecondary destinations: A study of talent loss. American Educational Research Journal, 38, 947–979.

Rowe, I. (2005, May). Making college a reality for all: A submission for strengthening America’s democracy. Retrieved August 1, 2005, from http://www.pacefunders.org/pdf/essays/Rowe%20FINAL.pdf

U.S. Census Bureau. (2004). Table 1. Earnings of year-round, full-time workers by selected characteristics: 1999. Retrieved October 28, 2005, from http://ask.census.gov

U.S. Department of Education. (2004). Why go to college? Retrieved August 1, 2005, from http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/college.pdf