If you have a student loan, or are preparing to take one out for yourself or your kids, you might be interested in a recent article over at the WSJ about how one student loan firm’s slogan of “conflict free” is making waves.

Wait! You mean student loans firms are NOT conflict free? Not all of them.

In recent months, a number of lenders have allegedly been offering incentives to university financial-aid officials in exchange for getting on the “preferred lender lists” that schools hand out to prospective student borrowers. Financial-aid officials at some of the best-known schools in the country have lost their jobs for taking stock or other payments from student-loan firms. And some of the biggest student-loan firms have reached settlements with the Attorney General’s office, totaling about $14 million.

So since lender’s can no longer trust a school’s financial aid office, many parents and students have been turning to online sources such as MyRichUncle that appeal directly to the lender. It’s an interesting concept that bypasses college lending centers entirely and puts the power back in the hands of the lenders.

So what’s the moral of this story? When asking a school’s financial aid office for recommendations, be sure to ask if the school receives any sort of kickback or incentives. If so, you might also want to use the power of Google to find direct lenders, such as MyRichUncle, who will offer “conflict free” loans (sometimes with an even lower rate).

Accounting and finance degrees are in high demand. You can’t argue with that. Just last year, CNN Money listed accounting as one of the top 5 hottest careers.

College graduates with an accounting degree but not yet a CPA designation might make between $35,000 and $45,000 a year, or up to $50,000 in large cities like New York. After a couple of years they can command a substantial pay hike if they move to large company as an internal staff auditor or to a smaller company as controller. At that point, their salary can jump to anywhere from $50,000 to $75,000.

But do you need a 4 year degree from an ivy-league school to command that kind of cash? Or can you earn a degree in finance or accounting online or through a correspondence program?

EarnMyDegree.com might be able to answer a few questions about online degrees that may entice you to make that career move you’ve been thinking about. The site lists a large number of popular and obscure online degree programs with accounting and finance-related degrees. You can earn an associate’s degree (typically sufficient for a simply bookkeeping job) or you can earn a Bachelor’s degree which can open the door to many accounting positions.

However, many people shy away from online or distance learning, and they have good reason to. The “industry” has been plagued by cheap “diploma mills” which are willing to give anyone a diploma with little or no work… as long as your willing to pay for it.

But if you go into an online learning program such as the University of Phoenix, Kaplan University Online, or the DeVry Institute, with a little knowledge you can find a quality education that fits your lifestyle (and budget). Here are a few tips to consider while doing your research:

Choose an Accredited School: Be sure to check out the US Department of Education’s list of accredited schools to find legitimate programs that other schools and employers will recognize.

Check With Your Future Employers: If you want to work for a “big 4″ accounting firm, then give them a call and ask about being hired with an online degree. Some may prefer a certain program, or ask that you also complete supplemental coursework. Your local CPA firm might not. So be sure to ask your future employer.

Consider Schools You Know and Trust: This doesn’t mean you should attend the school with the most commercials on TV. Ask around. Find some friends who have pursued online education and ask them about their experiences.

Recognize the Warning Signs: Don’t waste your money on an institution that functions as a diploma mill by issuing degrees for money with little or no work required, claims to be accredited when it isn’t, charges either sky-high or very low fees, or fails to provide a physical address.

Reflect on Your Schedule: Most online courses are just as rigorous and time-consuming as traditional on-campus courses, which typically require three to four hours of class time each week in addition to homework.

Know Thyself: Are you disciplined and dedicated enough to pull this off? Because of the many distractions you’re likely to encounter at home and through work, you’ll have to force yourself to study and complete assignments on time.

How’s Your Writing? The nature of online communication means your reading comprehension and your ability to develop your thoughts in writing will be key. Many colleges offer refresher writing courses if you think you need to improve.

Take a Test Drive: The lack of face-to-face contact and conversation with your professor and fellow students just might make you batty. Before committing to a degree track, try taking just one online class first.

Sure, an online degree isn’t for everyone… but it may be exactly what you were looking for. So do your homework and be sure to check out sites like EarnMyDegree.com which provide you with a list of degree possibilities.

The preceding review, written in my unbiased opinion, was a paid review of EarnMyDegree.com.

I’ve spoken about the Kiddie Tax before and how it was initially established to help prevent wealthier parents from “stashing” cash and assets in the names of their kids so that they could avoid higher tax brackets.

However Congress, hoping to raise an estimated $1.4 billion in the next decade, has boosted the age of those subject to the kiddie tax by one year — from under age 18 to under age 19.

But the real problem is that full-time college students under age 24 are also caught. So, if you thought your 22-year-old college student had outgrown this tax, guess what: He or she could be subject to these provisions again.

As Steve Rosen explains, under the new rules — and Congress didn’t tinker with these limits — children can make up to $850 in investment income without having to pay any taxes. Income between $850 and $1,700 is taxed at the child’s lower rate. But if the child is the principal owner of these investments, any income above $1,700 is taxed not at a child’s rate, but at parents’ tax rates. This expanded provision doesn’t apply to children whose income from work is more than half the amount of their financial support.

“This seems to discourage saving,” said Sophie Beckmann, personal finance strategist for A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis.

This regulation also makes no sense when you consider that a lot of the investment income in the hands of children has probably been bankrolled for college education.

Luckily, the tax provision doesn’t go into effect for a while, but it stills seems like a ridiculous idea when considering the increasing cost of education – for parents and students alike.

Parents are natural worriers. There is some sort of chemical change that happens as soon as your first child is born that transforms your brain so that it is constantly worrying about something. And for me I’m usually worrying about money. Even though my girls are only two I’ve already begun to worry about funding college, trust funds, etc.

If you’re in the same boat (for your sake I hope you’re not) you’ll be happy to know that FinAid.org has a great Parent’s Guide to Financial Aid with step-by-step instruction on how you should proceed with plans for paying for college. There are tons of links, tools, and guides for everything from a College Cost Projector to information on Education Tax Credits. And they’ve even got a guide for parents of newborns and younger children. It’s never too early to start saving, right?

As you may know I’m a big supporter of teaching children about money and how to manage it as early as possible. And in my quest to find new and innovative ways of teaching financial concepts to kids I came across a link to the Federal Reserve System via Lifehacker.com.

Within the Federal Reserve System’s Publication Catalog is a list of 12 comic books that teach youth and kids about inflation, the history of banks, and the importance of saving. Some of the comics present the information in a straight-forward fashion but there are also a number of story-based comics such as:

• Once Upon A Dime – A fable about the island kingdom of Mazuma and the growth of its economy from barter to a sophisticated modern system, with its own central bank, to iIlustrate basic concepts of barter, money, banking, and inflation.
• Wishes and Rainbows – Explores the economic problem of scarce resources and society’s reactions to such problems via a children’s story.
• Too Much, Too Little – Provides a history of the U.S. monetary system and events leading to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System.

I’ve ordered a bunch of the comics (they’re FREE) to see how age appropriate they are and I’ll be sure to report back! In the meantime if any of you decide to order a few (after all, they’re FREE), let me know what you think!