REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 5, 2002 — In response to the changing rules and policies surrounding college savings plans, Microsoft Corp. today announced that the CNBC on MSN®
Money online personal finance service has introduced a special college financing center to help consumers better understand how to prepare for, save for and fund a college education. Visitors to http://www.money.msn.com/ also now have convenient access to college savings accounts through Upromise, a free service that helps families earn money toward college based on purchases with America’s leading companies.
To help consumers navigate the new world of college financing, CNBC on MSN Money offers a host of useful content — from articles on 529 plans and higher education tax breaks to tuition calculators and links to colleges nationwide — designed to arm consumers with all the college-related information they need, in one place on the Web. The following are among the resources available in the CNBC on MSN Money college financing center:
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College search helps consumers find favorite colleges by name or state.
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Scholarship search lets students research more than 400,000 scholarships available nationwide and apply for them online.
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Tuition Savings Calculator enables users to plan for expenses along with other short- and long-term financial goals. By plotting the costs of sending a child to college, consumers can more easily integrate the anticipated expenditure into their savings plan.
“Financing a college education is a major investment, and with recent legislative changes, it has become an even more complicated process,”
said Karen Redetzki, product manager for the Financial Products Group at Microsoft.
“With the CNBC on MSN Money college financing center, we’re providing consumers with a comprehensive, one-stop resource that helps them make sense of today’s college financing plans. And now, through the alliance with Upromise, our visitors have a quick and easy way to kick-start the saving process.”
Based on the alliance with Upromise Inc., visitors to CNBC on MSN Money can easily enroll in Upromise’s college savings service, which allows members to earn money back on purchases from many of America’s leading companies. Upromise members can save automatically at more than 15,000 grocery and drug stores; tens of thousands of retail locations; 100 online shopping sites, including Microsoft’s own shop.Microsoft.com; and more than 7,000 restaurants nationwide. Upromise also makes it easy for families to invest their Upromise contributions in 529 college savings plans.
About CNBC on MSN Money
CNBC on MSN Money, located exclusively on MSN, is a complete online personal finance service that combines the award-winning finance tools and content from Microsoft, the worldwide leader in software, with exclusive investment news and analysis from CNBC, the world’s most popular financial cable news network. CNBC on MSN Money offers consumers the ability to easily complete a wide range of everyday financial tasks, such as paying bills, viewing account balances, tracking investments, planning for retirement and staying informed with the latest financial news, in one convenient place online — any time, any place.
CNBC on MSN Money enables people at all levels of experience to take control of and feel comfortable with their finances, helping them make smart financial decisions. Leading industry publications, including Barron’s, Forbes Magazine, Money Magazine, PC Magazine and PC World Magazine, consistently applaud the sophisticated personal finance tools and information from Microsoft. The service is available at http://www.cnbc.com/ or http://money.msn.com/ , or by visiting MSN at http://www.msn.com/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
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