A few weeks ago, BobN of GA wrote us the comment, "Rather than doing what you are doing, why not tackle the acute problem of tuitions being way too high?" Bob has a point: Tuition and fees have been going up at approximately 6 percent a year for the past decade, whereas inflation has been rising at about half that. So, we asked visiting blogger Judy Genshaft, president of the University of South Florida and chair of the board of the American Council on Education ("the nation's umbrella higher education association"), why costs are spiraling out of control. Here's what she had to say:

If you're a student or the parent of one, chances are you've had a bit of sticker shock when researching and then paying for college. Because every family has a different set of financial circumstances and every student has unique educational needs and ambitions, there is no one-size-fits-all formula to judge whether you're getting a good deal. Luckily, a quality education can be had at many price points if you shop wisely for the right education at the right price.

Still, it's true that higher education costs have grown faster than the rate of inflation. Here are the seven main reasons:

Community colleges are hot: Almost half of all college students are enrolled in one. And, in the next couple of weeks, President Barack Obama will announce a broad new community college initiative, designed to substantially boost government funding for community colleges and dramatically increase the number of students who enroll there. We’d like to help. So, in order to help the 11 million students already at community college—and the millions of students who’ll join them there in the next decade—we offer our nine best tips for getting the most out of community college:

One of the fastest-growing and most important segments of the American college scene is the community college (in some cases called two-year, junior, or technical colleges). Including such institutions as Miami-Dade College, Broward College, Northern Virginia Community College and the many campuses of the Maricopa Community Colleges (Phoenix), City College of San Francisco, City College of New York, Los Angeles Community College District, and Houston Community College Systems, community colleges enroll a full 44 percent of U.S. undergraduate students. That's 6.7 million credit students, plus 5 million students who are not candidates for a degree, at 1,177 urban, suburban, and rural institutions. To find out what the main differences are between the community college and the four-year liberal arts institution—and whether you should consider applying to a community college—we invited visiting blogger George R. Boggs, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges and former president of Palomar College (a two-year college in California), to offer his thoughts. Here's what he has to say:

With family budgets now under the microscope, community colleges have become attractive alternatives to the more expensive four-year colleges and universities. There are many reasons that nearly half of American undergraduates choose to start their higher education in a community college. Here are the top 10:

Thanks to the generosity of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the work of the OpenCourseWare Consortium of universities worldwide, you can take any of 8,000 college courses at the very best universities for free. We've already given you six tips for capitalizing on this opportunity. Here are six more:

1. Download the software. Some of the courses require software that you might not have loaded on your computer or device. The home pages, or individual course pages, almost always say what's needed, but some of the better software choices include the VLC Media player (which works with practically every video format), Media Player Classic (it's especially good for the .rm files at Berkeley), the Adobe Flash Plug (look for version 10.0.27.87), and the Quick Time Player.

2. Get the readings. It's always worthwhile to get your hands on the assigned readings and exercises since they'll make for a richer course experience and better learning. In addition to—or in place of—buying the books, you might visit the library or call the interlibrary loan department at a state university or community college in your area. In many cases, they'll have the book or journal you need. If not, they'll have a wonderful setup to borrow the book, or get a free copy of the article, within days. Your tax dollars pay for this little-known service, so why not use it?

Suppose we told you that you could take any of 8,000 college courses at the very best universities, with professors handpicked for their good teaching, at the time and place of your choice—free! Well, thanks to the generosity of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-and the work of the OpenCourseWare Consortium of universities worldwide-you can get the same courses others are paying $5,000 for-in the comfort of your living room. Here are six ways to do this:

Last week, we had a look at the top 10 differences between college and high school. But we're not finished yet. There are even more differences. So, lest you think that college is just grade 13, here are 10 more things you might find once you get to the big U:

1. You're expected to think on your own. While parroting back what the teacher said, word for word, might have been the royal route to high school success, the rules of the game have changed at college. Most professors expect A-level students to demonstrate some of their own insight into the material. And often profs will be teaching material for which there is no "right" answer—just theories and hypotheses. So get ready to think on your own and to tolerate the uncertainty that comes with higher-level work.

2. Some professors have perspectives. Whereas principals will rebuke high school teachers who express political and religious views in the classroom, college professors have "academic freedom": They can and sometimes do present their own views in class. So there's no need to go nuts if your professor of climatology argues against global warming skeptics, or your professor of philosophy argues that Darwin's theory has no explanatory value, or your religion prof maintains that the text of the Bible was put together by many writers over a long period of time. Relax. It's all part of the free interchange of ideas. Instead of having a cow, why not take your turn and offer your ideas?

By now, most students who are starting college next fall have sent in their acceptances, not to mention the first chunk of change. And now, the real worrying for them starts: What is college really going to be like? And how is it different from what I'm most used to—high school?

So, with congratulations to the new inductees—oh, sorry, we mean admittees—here are the 10 most important differences between college and high school:

The fifth-century B.C. Greek philosopher Heraclitus used to exclaim everything changes, nothing stands still. Well, colleges are in flux, too. Here are the 17 biggest differences between college today and college just 10 years ago:  

1. Booming enrollments. It's estimated that in 1999, 15 million students were enrolled in American colleges and universities. Today, the number is 19 million. And college enrollment looks to be growing-as far out as the eye can see-at a rate of 4 percent or so a year. Some unpleasant byproducts: humongous class sizes at many schools, interminable wait lists for popular or required classes, and more teaching by adjuncts and graduate students. 

Now that the semester is just about over, we thought we'd take a look back and see what makes some college students successful. Sometimes, it's a question of intelligence or insight. And sometimes, it's sheer good luck. But a lot of the time—unbeknownst to some students—it's a question of good habits: things you do on a regular basis that set you aside from the hordes of other, more scattered students. In the hopes of separating the sheep from the goats, here are what we've found to be the 15 habits of the most successful college students. You'll find that these scholars:

1. Plan ahead. Not only do they know when the tests and papers fall in the semester, but they have a pretty good sense of what work needs to be done each week. Nice and balanced: no panic attacks or all-nighters come the tests or papers.

Sometimes even the best-laid plans go wrong. And sometimes you never had a plan in the first place. But whatever the reason, 'tis the season when some college students find themselves in a ginormous hole. But there's no reason to fold just yet, at least not before checking out our seven things to do to salvage your semester:

1. The extension. Even if the due date for the paper is accompanied by copious threats, many professors will give students extra time to complete a paper. To get an extension on a due date, you gotta ask. Do it face to face (no E-mail, Twitter, Facebook) and during an official office hour, not before or after class. Explain your reasons simply and concisely: A sob story is OK, if it's no more than 20 seconds long. Be honest and supernice: Those qualities can outweigh even a flimsy excuse. And propose a firm date for completion of the work-say an extra week or two. Tests are more dicey: Many professors aren't even allowed to give makeups. But ask anyway. You never know.

Extra Pointer. At many schools, you're entitled to an automatic extension if you have more than two finals on the same day. Be sure to ask if you find yourself in this situation.

Well, it's just about showtime. Soon you will face that grueling week of finals on which the fate of this semester's GPA rests. Sorry, we can't make final's week into a piece of cake. Only your professors can, and we wouldn't be counting on it. But how well you prepare will, in no small measure, determine how well you'll do. So here are our 10 best suggestions on how to prepare for those all-important final exams (together with a brief glance into the professor's mind that will show you why the tips work):

1. Spend a week. Start studying for each exam a week before you are due to take it. This will give you time to divide the material into manageable portions that you can digest over a number of study sessions. This is especially important in the case of a cumulative final in a course with tons of material. Whatever you do, don't try to swallow the whole elephant—the whole course, we mean—in one cram session. (Works because, in most courses, the prof is expecting you to have processed and digested the material—something you can't do in one fell swoop).

As the end of the semester looms, what better way to avoid thinking about finals than to contemplate picking up some classes in summer school? To help you with your decision, here are some advantages and disadvantages of extending your college experience into the dog days of summer.

First, the pros:

1. You can get into classes that are full in the regular semester. Since enrollment in summer school is significantly less than during the regular school year, there can be spaces to spare in classes that normally have waiting lists out the yin-yang. And you can often get times you like-10 in the morning, for instance, rather than 5 in the evening.

2. The classes will be smaller. It's not at all uncommon to see classes that usually have 250 students being offered over the summer with only 25 students. Avoiding the monster classes at your mega-U is a real plus. You could actually be able, for a change, to see and maybe even get to know your prof. Now, that'd be a first.

"Helicopter parents" are a familiar sight at college campuses today. These overinvolved moms and dads swoop down on orientation, help their kids pick courses, then—once the semester starts—are on the cellphone three times a day to find out how their kid is doing. There are as many reasons for this phenomenon as there are parents: Some parents think they're showing that their relationships with their kids are closer than those of the previous generation, others are anxious and want to protect their kids from the disasters that await them at college, and still others just like the technology and want to make full use of it. Whatever the reason, the effects on the child can be harmful. Many college students today, though perhaps more intellectually gifted than ever before, are unable to solve problems on their own and lack the sense of independence of confident adults. And so this week, we've invited visiting blogger Madge Lawrence Treeger, psychotherapist and coauthor (with Karen Levin Coburn) of Letting Go: A Parents' Guide to Understanding the College Years (fifth edition), to share her 10 best tips on how parents can stay connected with their college kids—without hovering so low that all that's kicked up is dust:

What qualities do medical schools seek in applicants? Of course, they want excellent students with a demonstrated ability in science who have made efforts to learn about the healthcare field and who have demonstrated a commitment to helping others. And as if that weren't enough, med schools also seek students who are mature, stable, honest, responsible, trustworthy, enthusiastic, intellectually curious, and capable of leadership. Wow! Quite a list!

This week, visiting blogger David Verrier, director of pre-professional advising at Johns Hopkins University, shares his 10 best tips:

1. Arrive at college with a strong background. For many premeds, adjusting to college science and math can present a considerable challenge. Taking a second year of chemistry or physics in high school (where possible) will help you immensely when you confront the required yearlong college courses in inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology, and sometimes even higher-level sciences (such as microbiology)—all with labs.

Ever wonder what Duke University tells star players like Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler, and Jon Scheyer about academics? So did we. So (while Coach Krzyzewski was off at March Madness), we asked visiting blogger Heather Ryan, director of academic support at Duke University Athletics, and her staff for their play-by-play. Here are their eight best tips for the student-athlete (and a couple of extras for the future student-athlete):

1. Your job is to be a student-athlete. Practice, class, film, weights, eat, study hall ... wait a minute, I don't have any "me" time. How am I supposed to Facebook, do my laundry, call my mom, and play Xbox? Treat your responsibilities as if they were your full-time job (because they are). Create an hourly planner, and update it daily. Stop scheduling nap times, and use breaks between classes to study and get your work done. If you manage your time during the day. you may just find that you have 15 minutes in the evening to sneak in a game of Halo.