College application plans change as family budgets shrink
by Larry Gordon and Seema Mehta
Since Laura Monte was a child, her parents had assured her that if she did well in high school, the family would find a way to pay for college. Now, things are not so certain.The south Orange County family had socked away money in stock funds that grew to $45,000. Scott and Pam Monte figured that the investments, coupled with their dual income, would pay for four years of college. Then the stock market crashed, and the college fund dropped by half. That led to difficult family discussions and a change in Laura's application plans, replacing pricey East Coast private colleges with more California public universities
The Los Angeles Times, 12/8/2008