These days, most folks are hoping to survive the downturn and pay their bills, but can you imagine wrestling with the prospect of years of college tuition on top of that? Many of you don't have to imagine, because you're doing it already as your children move through school.

So it was with interest that I read "Eight Tuition-Free Colleges" (link below) in theWall Street Journal (which says it reprinted the piece from www.mentalfloss.com). A couple of the schools have engineering ties, but one is a dedicated engineering school:Olin College of Engineeringin Needham, MA.

According to the article, each student who attends does so tuition-free. Beyond the $130,000 savings, Olin is also noteworthy for its emphasis on both entrepreneurship and philanthropy.

Below, I'm including a link to Olin's own description for its mechanical engineering department. With an emphasis on creative problemsolving, it sounds like an attractive academic home for any potential next-generation engineers in your home.

And the price is right.

Links