For nearly every business on the planet, the 2% fee charged on credit card payments is just another cost of doing business.

Not so for colleges, which are implementing policies that pass that fee on to their students and the parents who pay tuition. The USA Today reports that "Starting Wednesday, students at the University of Southern Maine who pay tuition using plastic will face a 2.75% processing fee. Other schools that have adopted, or are adopting, similar policies include George Mason University, Northwestern University, Wichita State and the University of Virginia."

Colleges that don't have these fees are seeing some savvy parents dropping 5-digit college expenses onto credit cards and then paying them off immediately -- stumbling into a airline miles bonanza in the process. On the other hand, rising college costs have some students putting their college tuition bills on their credit cards. In 2008, students charged an average of $2,200 in educational expenses to credit cards, up 134% from four years earlier, according to Sallie Mae.

Now those students will be in for a Supersized college ripoff: Lacking the cash to cover their expenses, they'll put them onto their credit cards -- and pay $200 in extra fees for the privilege.

But the college don't really care about that -- They just want their money.

Amusement parks, museums, and other tourist attractions often cut senior citizens and students a break on admission fees, but you don't necessarily need to be a cash-conserving retiree or a scrappy college undergraduate to take advantage of those deals.

That's because the elderly threshold is edging downward, and anyone can become a student again.

While age 65 is widely accepted as the gateway to one's golden years, some places consider senior citizens to be anyone age 62 or older, 60 or older, and sometimes even age 55 or older. So be sure to ask if there's a discount for senior citizens and what the criteria is.

If you're on the age borderline, don't be bashful about nicely telling the cashier which other places gladly consider you to be a senior citizen. A little bit of perceived commercial peer pressure could save you 10% to 25% of the entry fee.

There has been a fair amount of complaining about the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the government-administered form the calculates an "expected family contribution" for college students based on their families' financial situations.

Apparently it was just too many hours of work to qualify for financial aid for college, and come on: Why should people have to fill out a detailed form to get money for college?

Mercifully, there are some changes on the way. The USA Today reports that "Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced plans Wednesday to simplify the application process for federal student aid, including a feature that lets some users skip irrelevant questions and a proposal to eliminate other questions. It also would allow families to use tax-related information they already provide to the IRS."

Allowing families to provide IRS data instead of having to re-report the same information is a good idea. But the real problem with the FAFSA is that it doesn't present colleges with nearly enough information to determine how much a student and his family can actually afford to contribute to college.

Believe it or not, the FAFSA form does not include retirement assets or home equity -- the two largest assets that most families have. Given that most families are forced to pit paying for college against retirement saving, telling someone how much they can afford to put toward college without including these two data points is a bit like telling someone that she's fat because she's 5-foot-8.

Of course, lobbying for the need to make the FAFSA form more complex and labor-intensive is not a good way to make friends. But it might be the only way to fix the broken financial aid system.

With high unemployment hitting communities across the nation, more people are returning to school to gain new skills and an upper hand on the competition. Owens Community College in Northwest Ohio is expecting an increase of close 24% for full time students this fall and has seen an increase in summer enrollment of close to 20% as well. Technical schools, like Tennessee Tech, are also seeing a boom in enrollment, thanks to job seekers looking for new skills.

Part of this increase can be attributed to the fact that many of these schools have noticed a shift in demand and have accordingly adjusted their programs to fit the needs of nontraditional students, such as unemployed Boomers. More community colleges are also offering evening and online courses, which make it easier to work on a new skill while you are still gainfully employed.

Current four-year students also have plenty of opportunities at community colleges. As Zac Bissonnette pointed out in WalletPop's Under-Rated series last fall, community colleges are a great place to pick up credits on the cheap. Owens Community College attributes a portion of its large increase this summer to students who will transfer credits back to their four-year institute in the fall. For example, next year, a full time student at Polk State College in Florida will only pay $2,594 for 30 credit hours!

If you're looking for a cheap way to give yourself an edge on the competition, local community colleges are where it's at. With enrollment numbers already up by 10-24%, if you're interested in a class at your local community college you better apply soon, since they may not be able cope with all of the increased demand!

What recession? Despite recent news reports (and posts on this blog) detailing the boatload of debt shouldered by the nation's new college grads, a few schools out there are catering to students who want to live the Entourage lifestyle while earning a degree. They're adding valet parking for students. To date, only a handful of schools have augmented their offerings with this decidedly non-recessionary perk, but interest is on the rise as colleges seek more creative ways to generate revenue.

At Florida International University in Miami, a valet-parking program put into place last spring charges student $5 an hour for preferred parking spots. Although the program was put on hiatus for the less-heavily-attended summer semester, it's reported to be back in the fall.

With student lending volume growing at an unprecedented clip, many families are taking some comfort in the numerous repayment assistance programs that can come as a perk with some jobs -- most of which require government work.

But today's Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "Scrutiny Grows as U.S. Pays Staffers' Student Loans."

Critics of the lavish spending on student loan repayment programs charge that the security of a government job is an enough of an attraction by itself, especially in this environment, and questions where the student loan repayments are anything more than a handout.

They were adopted in 2002 as part of a plan to attract students to public service -- that's what they call it. I would call it bureaucracy -- but some contend that they're an unnecessary waste of money.

Whether the federal government should offer student loan repayment assistance is outside of my sphere of competence. But with the government wracking up record deficits, there will almost certainly be a push toward cost cutting over the next few years -- and that could put these programs on the line.

So here's my plea to college students and prospective college students: Please, please, please do not take out loans planning to take advantage of these programs without any viable contingency plan. You have no idea whether these programs will exist when you graduate, and any financial aid officer who tells you about them has no stake in the outcome.

Remember filing out your FAFSA form for federal aid in college?

When I completed mine for the first time, it was complex and time consuming. Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, asks more than 153 questions depending on criteria for first-time applicants.

This high level of intimidation leaves many students feeling overwhelmed. Some choose to hire a private financial aid consultant to complete their FAFSA for a fee, others seek help from their college's financial aid office, but many students either choose to take out private loans when they are actually eligible for financial aid.

Then there's always the unfortunate event when a student is immersed with fear about financing their college education, and just decide not to bother.

In an effort to ease the FAFSA process, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has announced some plans to tackle this issue. Under this proposed plan, students will be able to skip irrelevant questions, and some families can use tax related information that was already given to the IRS.

This plan is the latest attempt to encourage more low- to middle-income students to apply for federal aid. I think that the less complex the FAFSA form is the better.

However, the current system provides good support. The online application guides students through every step and financial aid counselors offer some useful advice.

I can understand why some families may feel intimidated by going through a process in hopes of receiving aid in the end. I would argue that during bad economic times, the uncertainty of receiving enough federal aid will influence families to gather up all of their documents and apply.

Ken and Daria Dolan, America's first family of personal finance, answer your questions every Friday.

Click here to ask Ken and Daria your question.

For many families, the college dream is turning into a financial nightmare. Your son or daughter gets accepted to a private university--great, right? Sure, until you start worrying about how to come up with enough money to cover that big tuition bill. Watch today's video as the Dolans have some surprising advice for a dad struggling to pay for his daughter's college education.

Dear Ken and Daria,

My daughter has a partial scholarship to a private college, but I'm not sure i can afford to pay the rest of the tuition. How should I handle this?

--Patrick

To learn more about the best ways to save for college, visit Dolans.com.

Judy Woodruff was previously the host of Frontline, which aired on PBS, and served as Chief Washington Correspondent for The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. The co-chair of the International Women's Media Foundation, Woodruff continues to be one of the most respected journalists in America.

Her new documentary series, which airs Monday nights in June on PBS's NewsHour, is entitled Generation Next. The generation that has experienced it all: from the birth of the Information Age to 9/11, and now a severe global recession. Woodruff examines what life is like for the up and coming young Americans. Woodruff talks to WalletPop Radio about traveling the country, talking to inspiring young men and women about how they're starting their careers in this economy.

If you owe more in student loans than you earn in a given year, you must, must, must drop everything and watch the video below.

Log-on to IBRInfo.org for more information.

And now for a special announcement for current college students and their families: This is a great program for graduates who got themselves in over their head with poor college financing decisions but it is not something you should count on when applying for and financing college. These programs can lose their funding at the drop of a hat. When signing up for student loans, it's better to assume the worst. If you can't afford the monthly payments, go back to the drawing board.

Let it be known that in America, personal liberty is not dead yet.

With a little help from the Constitution, University of Washington art professor Shirley Scheier and U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour delivered that pleasing message to three heavy handed law officers.

According to a detailed report from The Seattle Times, the incident involved photographs which the professor took of some overhead power lines. She took the photos from public property for her own artistic use.

There are no explicit restrictions against photographing her chosen subject. However, after leaving the area, Professor Shirley Scheier, of the University of Washington, was detained by police officers who "questioned her vigorously about the photos she had taken, searched her car, handcuffed her and treated her "roughly."

In a Homeland Security sense, perhaps the officers were justified in their concerns. In a tactical sense, the officers could only implement their training and departmental guidelines.

In a constitutional sense however, to make an arrest and execute a search without warrant, which is what the officers did, they are still required to have probable cause to believe that a crime has been committed. That truth netted our story's hero $8,000.

American civil liberties are still kicking butt -- for now.

The new credit card rules signed into law recently herald a great deal of positive changes, but one requirement sticks out as an odd addition. The requirement that individuals under 21 need a parent or guardian to co-sign for a credit card has the capacity to leave many otherwise responsible borrowers without the ability to begin building credit.

In theory, this new rule protects young people from making bad credit decisions, and makes it easier for credit card companies to recoup losses associated with young people who default on their credit cards. But in practice it is odd that legislators believe young individuals can join the armed forces and even gamble but not make responsible credit card decisions.

When the law goes into effect next year, individuals under 21 whose parents won't co-sign for a credit card will have to have proof of the ability to repay the credit card. I spoke with former credit card industry insider and CEO of Cardhub.com, Odysseas Papadimitriou, to find out what kind of proof will be required in 2010.

First and foremost, he pointed out that the current language of the law doesn't define the burden of proof needed, and he expects card issuers to offer various formulas until an industry-wide proof of ability to repay is put into place by issuers or legislative action. As it stands now, expect to see issuers relying on a pay stub income assessment, much like apartments and other businesses verify ability to repay.

Schools out, you've stowed away your cap and gown and have spent the last months looking for a job, an internship or anything to validate the last four years worth of high-priced education, but the market is as bare as the walls of your old dorm room. With the novelty of meals prepared by mom wearing off and a tough job market all but guaranteed for the rest of 2009, now might be the best time to take the oft talked about time off to backpack through Europe.

While it may seem irresponsible to leave the country in the middle of your job hunt to backpack your way through Europe, it beats crashing on your parent's couch and may not cost as much as you think. With numerous deals on travel, a favorable exchange rate and an incredible guide for budget spring break travel in Europe put together by Gadling it may actually be the best time to go.

Grant Martin, editor of Gadling.com, shared his optimism for deals to be had for anyone looking for a European getaway; "Transit wise, we're seeing a few more airfare deals to the EU, largely because demand has tapered off a fair amount and airlines are scrounging around to fill planes. So chances are that you're going to get a better deal on flights and everyday expenses while you're there." The price discount is evident on many flights, so long as you can be flexible. I was able to find a round trip ticket from St. Louis to Madrid for $490 including taxes and fees; a drop of $500 from Gadling's The Basics of Backpacking Through Europe Guide which was written in early 2008.

My first daughter won't be going to college for another 11 years, and I'm already feeling ill when I wonder how I'm going to pay for it. Not to mention my second daughter, who will be ready for college in 13 years.

So I'm always interested in learning about different ways to pay for college, and one such way that doesn't seem to be discussed that often is through college payment plans. These aren't loans but "pay as you go" plans.

It's kind of similar to the way you buy a house or a car. You make a payment every month for your kid's college education while they're in college. Given that tuition can run as high as $20,000 to $50,000 or more a year, nobody envisions payment plans as the only way you'd pay for college, but they can make up a shortfall, if you've exhausted your student loan possibilities and your 529 is as padded as possible and you have a student who has graduated from high school and rarin' to go.

I was told about payment plans by someone who works for Key Education Resources, a KeyCorp company, and naturally, the person was extremely enthusiastic. But then she works for this company, so I would expect that.

Teenagers and college students have the time to become acclimated with their chosen field, and because of this, the search for summer internships is on the rise.

However, students are faced with low availability or the other alternative – the unpaid internship. At this point the decision between summer income and gaining experience is crucial. Most students would choose to have summer income to cover the rising expenses of school, travel, leisure or even family support.

Investing their summer time to gain experience and build up a strong resume to enter the labor market is seen as the wise choice. Wouldn't it be great to combine both decisions? The paid internship is every student's dream. However, once again, the availability is low.

Fortunately, students have the advantage of Web 2.0 to aid them in their summer job search. Specifically, the launch of Twitter allows employers to enter a job post, and students to reply; all done within 140 characters or lest. It's a micro job search that will revolutionize the labor market. This is how I did it: