<p>I heartily recommend these books for parents with kids heading off to college. It’s a bittersweet time and we (and they) need all the help we can get! These three have been really helpful to my family:</p>
<li><p>For Parents: LETTING GO: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years (Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger, 4th edition) “Based on real-life experience…Letting Go offers compassionate, practical, and up-to-the-minute information to help parents with the emotional and social changes of the college years.”</p></li>
<li><p>For Families to Give Kids: WORDS TO LIVE BY: A Journal of Wisdom for Someone You Love (Emily and Kate Marshall) “Words to Live By provides a simple, elegant template so you can share your knowledge with comeone you love. Whether it’s a simple life lesson or hard-won wisdom, you can offer your caring suggestions for how to get the most out of life.”</p></li>
<li><p>For Kids: THE ULTIMATE COLLEGE SURVIVAL GUIDE (Janet Farrar Worthington and Ronald Farrar) “Proven tips for success, invaluable advice on: dorm life, study strategies, personal security, the social scene and coping the pressure.”</p></li>
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<p>How about the best books on researching financial aid? Espeically when the parent contribution will be most if not all of a child's educational expenses, even when there is not savings or cash to pay for it?</p>
<p>You have several choices - Sallie May Paying for Education is a good book </p>
<p>Petersons's has a selection of books that I personally have always liked that address a whole array of topics related to planning and paying for education.</p>
<p>You are always going to get someone elses opinion on what you should and shouldn't do on this topic but by far your best resource is your college financial aid office. Don't just call them - set up a meeting - talk face to face that is always better - they are a wealth of information. The feds also have some good sites for information - check out <a href="http://www.ed.gov%5B/url%5D">www.ed.gov</a> site - there is a load of information there too.</p>
<p>After hearing friend's with about-to-be college freshman struggling, I just re-read the "Ready Set Go" chapter of LETTING GO. Really recommend it if that's where you are in the process. Not an easy time. The bright spot in several of these friends' summers has been their kids' responses to the copies of WORDS TO LIVE BY they gave them. Very good thing.</p>