To jimmyt: Clinton proposed, and Congress passed, the "Hope" tax credit, up to $1500 per year for tuition/fees applied to the first two years of post-secondary education. Obviously, the word "Hope" is also used for Georgia's in-state education-financing program -- which sounds similar to Louisiana's Taylor grants for students at in-state univeristies. But, please note that there is a federal education tax credit also called "Hope." Parents or first- and second-year college andf junior college students (as well as the students themselves, if they're self-suporting) should know about this and take advantage. (If you use a computer program like TurboTax, you will be prompted to

I'm not going to get into the Cuba controversy.

One other comment I'd like to add is that I agree with dianavan that college-level education is a desirable thing in and of itself, whether or not it results in increased earnings. And, in fact, a degree does NOT always guarantee a high income; I would guess that, in these days of rapidly increasing tuition costs, that a bachelor's degree is less and less likely to "pay for itself."