College is the doorway to a golden future, right? But if you're not careful, it's also a path to a mountain of debt. Worst-case scenario: You struggle for years to pay for an education that you can't turn into a paying job.

But it doesn't have to be that way. In The New College Reality, Dr. Bonnie Snyder tells you how the system works and how to make college pay off. Forget conventional wisdom and let her revolutionary rules show you how to integrate job planning and education with financial responsibility: Make sure your degree relates to existing or emerging jobs Resumes, personal brands, and college contacts lead to jobs Shelter your assets from the financial aid formula Limit your total borrowing to your expected first-year salary Always be ready to create your own job Don't squander money on a useless, self-indulgent degree. Instead, squeeze maximum career value out of every semester of college while scrimping on costs. The result will be a great career that really uses your education.