Get a head start on college financial aid

Nearly 2 million college students miss out on free money annually because they don't fill out federal forms for financial aid, which is awarded based on need and merit. Don't be among them -- with tax season upon us, it's an ideal time to send in financial aid forms for yourself or the kids.

'Don't pay more for college than you have to," says Martha Holler, spokesperson for Sallie Mae, the nation's leading provider of saving- and paying-for-college programs.

Fill out federal forms for scholarships, grants and low-interest student loans online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. or get hard copies at high school guidance counselor's and college financial aid offices. Save yourself some time, too, by doing them simultaneously with taxes.

Sallie Mae's College Answer Web site also has a checklist to help you gather documents needed to complete financial aid forms and a free scholarship search that provides access to an award database containing more than 2.8 million scholarships worth in excess of $16 billion.

Earn&Learn: Getting jiggy with the science

Walter Lewin, a beloved physics professor at M.I.T. who experiments on himself (the picture here shows him demonstrating principles of pendulums), has blazed into the national limelight since he began sharing videotaped classroom lectures online. Hundreds of fans across the globe are tuning in and turning on (free of charge) to the magical world of physics.

You and the kids can join in the physics stampede by checking out OpenCourseWare from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shorter Lewin snippets are available on YouTube and iTunes U.

Professor Lewin’s global fans are stuffing his email inbox with adoration.“Through your inspiring video lectures i have managed to see just how BEAUTIFUL Physics is, both astounding and simple,” a 17-year-old from India e-mailed to Lewin recently, The New York Times said.