We're coming up on the deadline to order Microsoft's Office Ultimate for $60. The software includes all the usual Office programs -- Word, Excel, Outlook--plus PowerPoint, Groove, OneNote, and InfoPath. The deal is supposed to be only for students, but as the New York Times pointed out what Microsoft really requires is an email address that ends in .edu.

The Times called the deal a 91% off sale, counting a list price of $679. But who pays list anymore? Ultimate is on sale on Amazon for $400. Still, that's a pretty big sale -- 85% off. And it's certainly cheaper than just the regular version of Home office you may be buying with a new computer.

The question is: Are you a student or can you pass as one? The Times noted that anybody can probably get an .edu address from their college as an alumni. Now Microsoft has this condition that they can check up on you and if they catch you not being a student you have to pay full price, $679. Is this whole thing a ploy to get somebody to actually pay full price? Or is Microsoft not going to check? All they want is for you to be taking half a credit.

If Microsoft comes hounding you for $610, I'd have to wonder if you could just sign up for a community college gym class. Might be the smartest option.

Just because those with higher education have lower death rates doesn't mean that bachelor's degrees are all they are cracked up to be either. In an column for the Chronicle of Higher Education Marty Nemko, a college consultant and author, shares his view that the bachelor's degree may be the most overrated product in America. Marty cites many factors and studies in reaching this conclusion but the key factor seems to be under-prepared students. Thankfully Nemko provides more than a headline by linking to supporting facts and most importantly offering suggestions to fix the problem!

Doesn't the under-preparation of students for college speak more about the job high schools are able to do than the job that colleges are doing? Not that I can blame the high schools who have to spend a significant chunk of time on standardized test taking rather than instilling knowledge in children. Sadly even a high percentage of students who are prepared coming out of high school won't make enough in the long run to justify the cost of a bachelor's degree. Another one of the facts Nemko cites is that the literacy rate amongst college graduates is currently declining. Take a second to absorb that; the number of illiterate college graduates is rising!

Science Daily released an article today which cites clear scientific evidence showing that the better educated we are, the longer we tend to live. The study, which was conducted by the American Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, analyzed data from more than 3.5 million deaths occurring between 1993 and 2001. Science Daily reports that the study concluded; "People with less education have fewer financial resources, less access to health insurance or stable employment, and less health literacy." It would seem that not only do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, but the poor get deader sooner also.

The greatest percentage increase in death rates was reported to be within the social class, white women. In that group, death rates increased by 3.2% annually for women with less than 12 years of education. The group of white women with more than 12 years of education also had a statistically significant increase in death rates of 0.7%. Men on the other hand, have seen increases in longevity. Well educated black men showed the greatest improvement, with a 36% decreased death rate. Well-educated white men also posted longevity gains, with a 25% decreased death rate.

My street level analysis is this: The education factor speaks for itself. Well educated people have the knowledge and resources to take better care of themselves. This is not to minimize the fact that they also tend to do fewer stupid things. Women, as they increase their power, leverage and exposure in this world, also increase their stresses and risks. Black men are beginning to make up for decades of high mortality rates, by working together to enhance their socio-economic well being overall. Men in general have begun to admit their vulnerability to the ravages of life and more of us are willing to admit when we need help.

As for us educated white guys living longer, well, that's probably just dumb luck.

According to BusinessWeek, "In recent months, peer-to-peer lending sites such as Prosper and Virgin Money USA have introduced student loans or started marketing existing offerings to families looking for college funds. Others, including startups GreenNote and Fynanz, are focused exclusively on making college loans."

It's not a surprising development. Peer-to-peer lending has been growing in popularity for years and the tightened credit market is making it tougher for some students to secure loans for college.

There may be a future in peer-to-peer student loans but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Here's why:

• Subsidized student loans are always preferable. Before exploring any private loans, college students should complete the FAFSA form and take steps to see how much they can borrow at artificially low interest rates.

As the class of 2008 graduates from high school, a good chunk will be heading off to college. There they will be bombarded with free t-shirts and bottle-openers: if only they'll just take a quick moment to fill out this credit card application. The average college student will graduate with $3 thousand in credit card debt -- which might not sound so bad until you think about the fact that many graduate with none, meaning that the average student who uses a credit card in college graduates with considerably more than $3 thousand in credit card debt. And don't even get me started on student loans.

Since the vast majority of kids will get credit cards (It can be helpful for building a credit history), your role as a parent is to educate Junior about the process. Here are some tips for helping your first time credit card user get off to a good (or at least not destructive start):

• Pick a card with no annual fee -- There's just no reason to pay a fee on your first credit card. Few college kids spend enough money for any rewards to justify the fee. Generally this will mean paying a higher interest rate -- tell your kid the interest rate doesn't matter because if he ever carries a balance you will disown him.
  
• De-emphasize the whole rewards thing: remember, credit companies offer rewards because they increase their profits. Getting a $50 savings bond for every $2000 you spend might sound wonderfully financially savvy, but it isn't if the joy of saving induces you into overspending.
• Urge them not to place anything other than necessities on the credit card: textbooks, gas, and other costs that aren't likely to increase due to the convenience of plastic. Clothing and especially restaurant meals should be paid for with debit cards or, better yet, cash.

Rather than wait for some snake oil salesman to sign your child up for a credit card when you're hundreds of miles away, take the opportunity to do it together, now. The CreditCards.com Student Credit Cards page has 9 cards for you to choose from, and you can click the links and fill out an application in just a few minutes.

I was watching the Suze Orman Show last night, and a viewer had emailed in with a question about saving for college. Suze immediately referred him to Savingforcollege.com, saying that it was the site for anyone need information on 529 plans, Coverdell plans, and everything else that makes saving for educational expenses a lot more confusing than it probably needs to be.

She's right: the site is awesome and easy to navigate. If you're in the fortunate position of being able to start saving for college before your child ships off, you owe it to Junior to spend some time looking at the site.

Here are some articles worth a look: Do grandparent contributions to 529 plans hurt financial aid eligibility? Can you use one 529 account for multiple children?

But perhaps more importantly: What is a 529 plan?

Recently, a Darmouth College lecturer announced her plans to sue her students. Apparently, Dr. Priya Venkatesan was angry about the fact that her pupils were complaining to her boss and openly disagreeing with her. The final straw was when one of her classes applauded a student who argued with her. She subsequently sent them an e-mail that read, in part:

Dear former class members [...] I regret to inform you that I am pursuing a lawsuit in which I am accusing some of you [...] of violating Title VII of anti-federal discrimination laws [...] I am also writing a book detailing my experiences as your instructor, which will "name names" so to speak. I have all your evaluations and these will be reproduced in the book [...] Have a nice day.

In the weeks since her e-mail, Venkatesan's lawsuit hasn't been going very well. According to some sources, she was unable to find a lawyer to represent her, while other sources stated that she has retained a lawyer and is suing Dartmouth College. The basis for her lawsuit is Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which guards against employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Venkatesan apparently feels that, due to her race, Dartmouth failed to suitably protect her from her students.

A few years ago, at my 10th high school reunion, I was surprised and delighted to discover that my former Sex and Marriage teacher, a man that I particularly disliked, had been scammed by a 27-year old George Mason student and sometime porn star. Apparently the young man, Anoushirvan D. Fakhran, aka "Jonathan Taylor Spielberg," posed as Stephen Spielberg's nephew, claiming that he was doing research for a forthcoming movie. My former teacher, now the principal of the school, allowed the young man to attend classes, showed him around, and gave him numerous privileges that ordinary (read: paying) students were denied. Ultimately, "Jonathan" was discovered and my alma mater was massively humiliated. I think my former teacher was farmed out to another school.

Recently, I was reminded of this as Yale University suffered a similar scam. Akash Maharaj, formerly of Trinidad and Tobago, got into Yale with the help of a forged letter of recommendation from one of Yale's professors. This letter, combined with a forged Columbia transcript, made him look very impressive, and Yale welcomed him to the school, giving him $31,750 in financial aid. He also received $7400 in federal scholarships, $6739 in loans, and $900 from a federal work-study program. During his time at the school, he received a literary prize, found a boyfriend, and generally seemed to fit right in. Unfortunately, things soured with his boyfriend, who ended up ratting him out to the University. Not long after, his forgeries were discovered and it all came crashing down.

As the spring semester winds down, college students are starting to figure out what they're going to do with their summers. Working, seeing friends, internships and perhaps a bit of travel are popular plans. But in light of the soaring cost of college, this might be an ideal time to look at a great way to save some money: Taking community college classes, transferring the credits, and maybe graduating college a semester or more early.

For an example of how this works, let's look at how a University of Massachusetts Amherst student might save money taking summer classes at Cape Cod Community College. UMass is a relatively inexpensive public university -- if you're attending a private college, the savings are probably much greater.

At UMASS, the total tuition and fees for one semester is $5,116 for an in-state student, not including room and board or any other expenses. A full-time student generally takes four or five three-credit classes per semester, working out to at least $1,000 per class.

You can take a three-credit class at Cape Cod Community College this summer for $394. If you take five, that could lop a full semester off your bill, saving you more than $3,000, not including room and board. And another thing: the sooner you graduate, the sooner you'll be working full-time at a more skilled job, so the actual addition to your net worth from this strategy could be well over $40,000.

A caveat: Because most community colleges won't offer the higher-level classes you need for your degree, this strategy works best for fulfilling general education requirements early in your college career. If you're a math major, community college might be a good place to take an English class over the summer.

Before you sign up, talk with your registrar's office to learn about the credit transfer process and find out which classes your college will give you credit for.

The image of MBAs that most people have is probably not a good one. But a new study from the Aspen Institute's Center for Business Education shows that business school students are motivated by, get this, altruism and a desire for an interesting, challenging work experience.

Students were asked to choose up to 3 of the factors that were most important to them as they looked for jobs. 64% mentioned challenging responsibilities, making compensation a distant second at 48%. Work life balance and the potential to make a contribution to society were the 3rd and 4th most important factors. Only 4% cared about job security!

Of course, what people will say on a survey and what they actually believe can be very different.

But here's my theory: many of the current MBA students are the children of the Baby Boomers, a generation marked by social consciousness and a desire to change the world. Perhaps some of this altruism has rubbed off on their business school children.

There was a time when you prepared for college, "signed up" for student loans, and were virtually assured that the funds would be there for you. The idea of having to pay back big loans wasn't appealing, but you knew your education was worth it. The checks came, you went to the financial aid office to get them, and all was well.

But it's not quite so easy anymore. There's news that Sallie Mae, the nation's largest provider of student loans, may stop making new loans, at least temporarily. The company says the loans are no longer profitable, so it can't afford to do them anymore.

Last week, a news report brought to light a new issue: Student loan checks that bounce. The Boston Globe reported on a student who deposited a $16,000 student loan check, started using the funds, and then was notified that the check bounced. The check bounced because The Education Resources Institute Inc., a nonprofit agency that guarantees student loans, filed bankruptcy. The student will still get his funds after some paperwork is sorted out, but it has likely been a scary process for him.

Sallie Mae is a huge student loan company, and often times it can be difficult to get routed to the correct department to straighten out your loan issue.

Earlier this week I shared a simple plan for using your congressman to resolve student loan issues at any company, but today I'd like to share a way to get satisfaction if your issue is with Sallie Mae. The executive customer service department at Sallie Mae is known as the "Consumer Advocate Unit" and from my experience, is staffed with small group of knowledgeable and friendly people.

Both our congressman and our attorney general referred us to the consumer advocate unit, where we were given one point of contact. If this person was out of the office, whoever took our call would literally walk over to his desk and grab our file in order to help us out. On more than one occasion they called another lender on our behalf to arrange for the consolidation of loans away from Sallie Mae!

You can reach the consumer advocate unit at (888) 545-4199. Please use this number responsibly, and remember these people are empowered to help you. Treating the caller with respect and kindness, no matter your previous experiences with Sallie Mae, will greatly benefit you in the long run.

Consider:

• The credit crunch has a lot of people concerned that student loans will be difficult to come by. Companies including College Loan Corp., CIT Group Inc., NorthStar Education Finance Inc., HSBC Bank USA, M&T Bank and Zions Bancorp have recently stopped issuing federally guaranteed loans. In all, 50 lenders representing 12% of the market have stopped making these loans.
  
• Sallie Mae has said it will no longer offer consolidation loans for federal loans.
• State agencies in Iowa, Michigan, Montana and Pennsylvania have suspended their student loan programs.
• It's an election year.

What does all this mean? Congressional hearings of course! At 10 AM EDT, a hearing on the state of the student lending industry convened, and lawmakers and several proposals aimed shoring up the market are floating through Congress.

I'm not so sure a little tightening in the industry is such a bad thing though. Student loans have become easy to get, allowing students to graduate from college with $50 thousand or more in debt, severely hurting their ability to get a good financial start in their adult lives.

Fewer student loans may encourage kids to pursue lower-cost options for education, and that will be good for them long-term.

An undergraduate friend recently shared his financial woes with me. He's about $8 thousand in credit card debt and has fallen behind on his payments. His parents have suggested that he take out a student loan and use it to pay off the debt over a longer period of time at a lower interest rate.

In theory, this makes sense. Paying a lower interest rate is always nice, and replacing delinquent revolving debt with a loan will help out his FICO score. To make this an even more lopsided decision, interest on student loans is often tax deductible.

Even so, I don't think consolidating the debt with a student loan is the right move, even if it's a good idea on paper.

The problem is that people who consolidate delinquent credit card debt and find themselves once again able to rack up big balances tend to do just that. Instead of being $8 thousand in debt, they up $16 thousand in debt. $8 thousand seems like a lot of money but if he spends the summer working 60 hours per week at $9 per hour, he'll earn $540 per week. If he scrimps and saves, he'll be able to make a big dent in the credit card debt. Of course he could consolidate it and do the same thing, but I somehow doubt that that would end up happening.

Taking out a student loans seems like a cop out to me, and a way to avoid dealing with the actual problem: owing a lot of money. Eventually my friend, who I hope is not reading this, will have to grow up and take responsibility for his financial life. A student loan in the situation is essentially a shovel to dig a deeper hole, unless there's a real change in behavior accompanying it. But if he was really committed to turning the situation around, he could work a ton of hours and spend less money.

As for the tax benefits, a student loan in this context does not appear to be tax deductible, as the IRS states that the loan can only be deducted if used for the "total costs of attending an eligible educational institution," which include "tuition and fees, room and board, books, supplies, and equipment, and other necessary expenses (such as transportation)."

I don't see anything in there about paying off credit card racked up buying clothing, cigarettes, and pizza. Of course you could probably deduct it and nothing would happen, but it's not kosher.

Unless he's ready to make serious changes in his life, taking out a student loan is a terrible idea. He should be looking to fix the problem, not thinking up creative ways to prolong it.

Isn't it time you started reaping the benefits of your local congressman's clout? Not yet ready to ask for a letter of recommendation for West Point? Have no fear because if you are the bearer of student loans and your loan company is shafting you, your congressman may be the key to a happy ending.

Getting some satisfaction with the help of your congressman or woman is so easy anybody can do it. Granted, like all problems and lending issues, it helps if you are in the right and have been paying your lender what the terms state. But this strategy may work even if you are close to being handed off to a collection agency.

As a little background: My wife had all of her student loans through Sallie Mae, affectionately referred to around our house as the devil. Several of these private loans which Ms. Mae was holding on to were pulling in 13.25% interest! We had included some of these loans in an initial federal consolidation which never worked out. Apparently the incoming fax line at Sallie Mae was hooked right up to a paper shredder because they never received our requests to consolidate. We tried again to consolidate my wife's private loans with Wells Fargo, who, just like our federal consolidator, never received a response from Sallie Mae. Fed up with the problems we were having, I did what any rational person would, I called my local news stations call for action. This is where I found out I could contact my congressman to get some satisfaction.