The U.S. Department of Education has a new website for prospective students and their families to sort through and make savvier decisions about college. Consumers of higher education can compare all of the nation's colleges in terms of cost of tuition to the benefits that they are likely to receive in the form of heightened future wages.

Visit CollegeScoreCard.ed.gov and find out more.

Another local resource is LA's Cash for College, LACashforCollege.org, a site that helps students apply for financial aid resources.