Peterson's Encourages Students and Parents to ``Get a Jump'' on Paying for College

Business Wire, Nov 7, 2002

Business Editors

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2002

New Get a Jump! The Financial Aid Answer Book, a Joint Collaboration Between Peterson's, American Education Services, and CNN/Money, Offers

Families Smart, No-Nonsense Financial Aid Advice

In an effort to help students and parents cope with rising tuition costs, decreased savings, and other hurdles to financing a college education, Peterson's, the nation's most trusted provider of online and print educational information and part of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE:TOC; TSX:TOC), today announced the publication of Get a Jump! The Financial Aid Answer Book.

Packed with valuable tips on securing aid packages and locating little-known sources of financing, the guide will arrive at bookstores, libraries, high school guidance offices, and other retail outlets the end of October. American Education Services (AES), a division of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, and CNN/Money, located at www.money.com and one of the leading personal finance sites on the Internet, contributed valuable financial planning content.

Get a Jump! The Financial Aid Answer Book is written in an easy-to-read format and designed to demystify the college financial aid process for students, families, high school guidance counselors, and educators. The guide features more than 100 tips from financial aid experts across the United States, advice on how families can use campus visits to find out more about a college's financial aid packages, firsthand accounts from experienced parents, and a complete overview of the financial aid process. Important information on need- vs. non-need-based aid and little-known alternatives to traditional college financing solutions are also included.

"Soaring tuition costs, decreasing personal savings and investments, and shrinking university endowments have made it much harder for families -- many that just a few years ago would have been surprised to find themselves worrying about financial aid -- to afford a college education. Add to that the often confusing methods that many colleges use to assess a family's financial situation and college financing becomes a complex, frustrating experience that it really doesn't have to be," said Carl Buck, Vice President for Financial Aid Services at Peterson's. A former Financial Aid Director at both Rice University and Rutger's University, Buck adds, "Get a Jump! The Financial Aid Answer Book is geared to 'thinking' parents -- those that take the time to really understand the process and the options open to them. It uncovers many solutions families might never have considered. And the financial planning solutions from AES and CNN/Money help make the book a truly unique resource."

Accompanying the book is a CD that features content provided by AES, including an interactive Estimated Family Contribution calculator. This enables students and parents to determine how much they will be expected to contribute toward college costs. Users also have the opportunity to communicate with a live financial aid professional, enter a scholarship sweepstakes, and link to online college admission and financial aid applications.

Editors and personal finance experts at CNN/Money point out smart ways to establish personal savings plans geared to financing college, instructs families on identifying and winning scholarships and grants, and advises readers on the benefits of using financial aid as a criterion in the college search process.

In addition to Get a Jump! The Financial Aid Answer Book, Peterson's also publishes scholarship directories and college and graduate school financial aid guides. In addition, Peterson's Web site, www.petersons.com, contains a scholarship database that includes up-to-date, objective, and accurate information on more than 1.6 million scholarships, loans, grants, and other financial aid awards worth $5 billion. Updated annually, the database is the largest available online.

About The Thomson Corporation and Peterson's

The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), with 2001 revenues of $7.2 billion, is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. Thomson provides value-added information, software applications and tools to more than 20 million users in the fields of corporate and professional training, assessment and testing, higher education, reference information, law, tax, accounting, financial services, and scientific research and healthcare. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). Its learning businesses and brands serve the needs of individuals, learning institutions, corporations, and government agencies with products and services for both traditional and distributed learning. As part of The Thomson Corporation, Peterson's is one of the nation's most respected providers of lifelong learning books and online resources focusing on the educational search, test preparation, and financial aid markets. Peterson's leading book imprints include ARCO; its Web site, www.petersons.com, has searchable databases and interactive tools for contacting U.S.-accredited institutions and programs. Peterson's serves 110 million education consumers annually.