How Do College Meal Plans Work?

When families talk about the rising cost of college, tuition tends to dominate the conversation. But for many students, tuition isn't the largest expense. Room and board, which covers housing and meals, often makes up the majority of the bill.Even at the most expensive colleges ranked by tuition, room and board adds a significant price.Recent data show that at public four-year colleges, room and board now accounts for about 45% of total expenses, while tuition makes up less than 36%. At San Diego State University (SDSU), a popular in-state option, tuition is only 25% of the total cost of attendance if you include on-campus living. Room and board, meanwhile, makes up more than 62%.Let's look at some raw numbers using SDSU as an example:In-State Tuition: $9,180Out-of-State Tuition: $13,320Room and Board: $23,736It's also important to note that SDSU requires students not in the service area to live on campus for two years. That can really add up!That gap raises a tough question: Is living on campus worth the price, even more so if you're going into debt?

More than one in three students who enroll in college never complete their degree. That figure is not just a statistic - it represents millions of families who invest time, money, and hope into higher education, only to see it fall short of its promise.Only 62% of students who start college earn a degree within 6 years, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse. That number has held relatively steady, and reminds families of a truth: one in three students don't finish.As college costs continue to rise, this is an important aspect to plan for. With student loan borrowing rising, the students who struggle the most to repay their debt are the ones that never graduated.Here's why 38% of students never finish college, and ways that you might be able to protect yourself.

California families have more tools than ever to save, invest, and build long-term financial security but many people don’t know these programs exist or how to use them. In this episode, Robert Farrington sits down with California State Treasurer Fiona Ma and Thomas Martin, Executive Director of CalABLE, for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about college savings, disability savings, and the mission to make financial empowerment accessible to every household.Treasurer Ma shares how her career (from licensed CPA to Assembly Speaker pro Tempore to her current role as Treasurer) has shaped her push to expand economic opportunity. She breaks down what the Treasurer’s office actually does and why the programs it oversees matter for everyday Californians.From ScholarShare 529, to CalKIDS, to CalABLE, this episode covers how these programs work, who they help, why participation matters, and what changes might be coming. Treasurer Ma also talks about ongoing efforts to introduce tax incentives for 529 contributions, her personal ethos on saving and investing, and the role early savings can play in shaping a child’s educational path.Thomas Martin joins the conversation to explain CalABLE, a program designed to help people with disabilities save money without jeopardizing important benefits. He shares how CalABLE works, how accounts can support both college and independent living, and how CalABLE and 529 plans can complement one another.The episode wraps with personal stories and practical advice — including money habits, favorite financial tools, and a myth the Treasurer wishes every Californian would leave behind.

The Trump administration has escalated its campaign to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - setting in motion what could be its effective closure within a year.In a court filing (PDF File) this week, the administration said the CFPB cannot seek additional money from the Federal Reserve - its usual source of operating funds. The bureau said it has enough reserves to continue through December but “anticipates exhausting its currently available funds in early 2026.” Without congressional action, that timeline would mark the end of the CFPB’s ability to function.The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued the legal opinion underpinning the decision. The OLC argued that under the Dodd-Frank Act, the CFPB can only receive funds from the “combined earnings of the Federal Reserve System.” Because the Fed has posted losses since 2022 (about $77.6 billion last year) the administration contends there are no “earnings” to transfer.“The Federal Reserve currently lacks combined earnings from which the CFPB can draw,” the opinion stated. If the Federal Reserve has no profits, it cannot transfer money to the CFPB.That interpretation redefines “combined earnings” to mean net profits rather than total income, a reading that may be up to interpretation. The Supreme Court upheld the CFPB’s funding structure as constitutional in 2024, without adopting that definition. What happens next is yet to be seen.

For nearly two decades, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program has offered a straightforward promise: make 120 qualifying payments while working full-time for a government agency or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and any remaining federal student loan balance will be forgiven. The idea helped schools, hospitals, local governments, and nonprofits recruit workers who might otherwise avoid lower-paying public-service roles.That certainty shifted when the Education Department finalized a regulation allowing the Secretary to declare an employer ineligible if it “has a substantial illegal purpose.” Though the Department says the rule targets organizations that knowingly engage in conduct that violates federal or state law, the standard is broad, unclear, and open to interpretation.The rule is currently scheduled to take effect July 1, 2026. Borrowers don't have anything they can do to prepare - except to watch and wait...

The Trump Administration continues its efforts to hollow out the U.S. Department of Education by sending six programs to other federal agencies. The U.S. Department of Education announced the changes in a press conference on Tuesday, November 18, 2025. Although federal law assigns responsibility for these programs to the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is making an end-run around the law by entering into contracts with the other federal agencies to operate the programs under U.S. Department of Education oversight.These interagency agreements (IAAs) send the six program to the following four agencies:U.S. Department of Labor (DOL): Elementary and Secondary Education Partnership and Postsecondary Education Partnership. DOL will be responsible for grants relating to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutes (MSIs), as well as grants focused on improving student success for college studentsU.S. Department of the Interior (DOI): Indian Education PartnershipU.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS): Foreign Medical Accreditation Partnership and Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS)U.S. Department of State (DOS): International Education and Foreign Language Studies Partnership, including programs administered under the Fulbright-Hays grantU.S. Department of Education staff who manage these programs will be transferred to the four federal agencies. The agreements were signed on September 30, 2025, but not announced until now. It will take several months to transfer the programs to the other federal agencies. 

In 2011, some protestors encouraged borrowers to refuse to repay their student loans as part of Occupy Wall Street. They said that if enough borrowers joined this protest, the lenders would have no choice but to cancel the student loan debt.Few people participated, and even those that did only lasted for a month or two. Nobody went into default as part of this protest.More recently, after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked President Biden’s broad student loan forgiveness plan, some student loan protestors are once again urging their fellow borrowers to intentionally default on their federal student loans as a form of debt disobedience.This kind of strategic default on federal student loans was a dumb idea then and it is a dumb idea now.When a borrower defaults on their federal student loans, the only one hurt is the borrower, not the federal government. Borrowers can’t force the federal government to forgive their student loans by refusing the repay them. Borrowers have no leverage, not even if they act together as a collective.Even if the borrowers had some leverage, the U.S. Department of Education does not have the legal authority to forgive student loans, just as it doesn’t have the authority to incarcerate defaulted borrowers. Only Congress has the ability to pass laws to forgive student loan debt.

We live in a world of unprecedented consumer guarantees. When you buy a t-shirt online, you expect to be able to return the shirt if it doesn’t suit you.If your pineapple from Aldi turns out to be rotten, you can get your money back and get a new pineapple for free. We’re used to guarantees that protect us from all kinds of minor financial setbacks. Unfortunately, guarantees don't work the same way when it comes to investing.If you expect a guaranteed return on your investment, your portfolio could end up underperforming (or even worse, you fall victim to an investment scam). Here’s what you need to know about guarantees when it comes to your investments.

Investors have likely heard that investing in stocks is a smart move for your financial future. But that’s only true if you build an investment portfolio that aligns with your financial goals. Unfortunately, the process of investing in stocks seems shrouded in mystery for many beginners. The good news is that researching stocks doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Like all skills, you’ll need to learn the basics to get started.

Robert was on Money Life with Chuck Jaffe this week discussing how Google AI overviews get the answer wrong over one-third of the time. This has serious consequences and you need to be mindful about what you're reading.