College admissions officials, keenly aware that their target audience grows more tech-savvy with every passing year, appear to be getting the hang of social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

There also was a dip in the number of colleges using social networking sites to research potential students: 17% did last year vs. 21% in 2007.

Center director Nora Ganim Barnes says students should think twice about posting damaging material online but adds that none of the colleges said every applicant was checked. More typically, colleges were interested in candidates for scholarships or entry into programs with limited spaces.

Check out all the statistics and what services are most used!

Believe it or not, free money for college isn’t only awarded to Einsteins and star athletes ‘ or those of you poor people who qualify for financial aid. There are plenty of opportunities for the ‘average’ college-bound student to take advantage of scholarship money. The biggest mistake to make, is to sit and wait, and not do anything about it in the hopes that someone will knock on your door and say, “Need some money?”

I just graduated in May, and now I am starting to pay back student loans. Let me tell you, it sucks. Having received my degree in Journalism from UCLA, I thought I would be in a good position to pay back my loans. Yeeeaaahhh…not so much. So now, after 4 years of tuition, room and board, I owe just over $115,000.

People say it all the time, but I will say it again…if I had it to do all over again…I would try to avoid the $1000 a month loan payment.

Here’s some common sense advice:

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