In this multi-part personal finance series, readers will learn various ways to help save money for a college education, from off-the wall-scholarships and 529 programs to the right time to refinance your loans. Parents and students alike who read this series will find something to help reduce the costs of a higher education before, during and after it takes place.

Part IV: Financial Aid

Last year, 1.8 million low- to moderate-income families missed out on help from the government because they did not fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA for short, which is needed to qualify for any federal, state and some institutional financial aid awards, according to the American Council on Education. In addition, the Council estimated that 1.5 million families missed out on the Pell Grant, an award of $4,310 that does not have to be paid back, just because they failed to file the proper paperwork.

If I told you the government would give you $4,310 if you simply filled out a form, you'd do it in a heartbeat right?

I'm an avid follower of all the news on Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX). So when I saw the article in today's USA Today about Penny Stafford's lawsuit against Starbucks claiming that the company is engaging in anti-competitive practices, I yawned. But it wasn't a happy yawn.

I've heard of Penny Stafford and her lawsuit before. And I'm sure she has validity to her complaints -- while the facts of the case are still she said/they said, the concept that Starbucks pays over-market rates for prime real estate, and asks for exclusives in some buildings, is pretty much agreed-upon.

But her claim that Starbucks drives other stores out of business due to market saturation? It's not happening in my neighborhood, even though, in a one-mile radius from my house in the past four years, the market has increased from one chain coffee store (a Coffee People, owned by Diedrich Coffee, Inc. (NASDAQ:DDRX) and recently bought by Starbucks) to two Starbucks and six independent coffee shops. The coffee shops succeed in direct relation to the quality of their products and whether or not the owners manage to create a welcoming, comfortable atmosphere -- the success has nothing to do with proximity to Starbucks or quality of the real estate. Although a neighborhood of 8,000 or so people has been veritably flooded with coffee, all but one of the stores are succeeding (and the failure was clear to me from the moment I peered through the window to see the cafeteria-quality furniture the owner had selected).

And I don't think my neighborhood is unusual, or even one of a handful of anecdotal successes. Whatever you think of Starbucks, the company is just good for independent coffee shops.