college. most graduating high school seniors have picked the school they'll attend this fall. but paying for that education can be a tough lesson in and of itself. that's this week's cover story. the price of admission. the average tuition alone at a private university exceeds $33,000 a year. and one year's tuition at a public college is nearly $10,000. and that's not even counting room and board which adds another $10 to $12,000 per year no matter which school you choose. tuition and fees have gone up faster than health care costs, new homes and overall inflation. >> college is a mandatory step if you really want to be a success. >> andrew cuomo launched a program providing free public school tuition for middle class families. just two other states, tennessee and oregon, have similar scholarship two-thirds of students get college aid or scholarship that's don't have to be repaid. the average grant is $8,500. but that covers just part of the cost. student loan debt is rising faster than credit card and auto loan debt and it sticks with you for life even if you declare bankruptcy. along with the diploma, seven in ten college grads will start their job hunt carrying an average debt of $40,000. raise me is a fund for cash for college. an a can earn a micro scholarships to be used at more than 225 colleges and universities. preston silverman is president and ceo of raise.me. >> tell me with these micro scholarships and what kinds of activities are rewarded, how much do students earn? >> raise.me, students can earn micro scholarships toward college grade. for all the types of things that will help set them up for success with college and their career. it can be anything from getting good grades in their classes to taking on leadership roles in clubs or sports, leading community service projects or even taking a financial literacy course. and as you mentioned, they can be earned from over 225 different colleges and universities across the country today. and students are earning as much as 80,000 toward college. >> and upper echelon schools. why are they doing it? what is in it for the universities? >> it gives them the opportunity to start engaging students earlier in high school so they can build a relationship with students as they go throughout college and lets students know about them before they solidified their decisions about whethe college. the second is that they can incentivize the behaviors that they have seen set students up for success so they'll be more likely to be admitted to their college or university and they'll be more likely to be successful once they get there. they'll need less remediation and more likely to graduate on time with less debt. the third reason is that many schools are looking to increase their diversity on campus, and we have a very diverse population of students that we're serving, and so raise.me gives them an opportunity to do that as well. >> is there something inherently wrong with paying for grades? >> that's a good question and it is something we looked deeply at as we were starting raise.me. and there's a great body of research that shows that performance based aid, which is what raise.me is, not only time but it also doesn't do anything to diminish students' intrinsic effort. >> the site is free for students. what happens if they decide not to go to college or they drop out? what happens to the money they accrued? >> yes, the site is complete i free for students, and if they don't end up using the scholarships they've earned, it goes back into the pool for other students. >> and one last question. this is a for profit vent you are for you. how do you make money? >> yes, when we started raise.me, we thought about it a lot. should it be for profit? nonprofit? ultimately we're building technology and we want that to be scaleable and we want it to be sustainable over the long run so we've incorporated a for profit corp and although it is completely free for students and for high schools that want to introduce the program to their students, we're charging the colleges and universities to facilitate their program. so we charge them an annual fee. and that keeps the program going. >> it is a fascinating concept. i wish you the best of luck. thank you. >> thank you very much. very nice to be here. >> about 150,000 students graduate from nursing programs each year but it is not enough. there is a growing shortage of nurses. especially in rural areas. kate rodgers talked to a student in baltimore looking the advance her degree and her career. >> as a child, jasmine wanted to become an accountant. but a love of science took her down a different path, nursing. >> i find it is a great way to do science while helping people. >> she is advancing her career as a nurse practitioner hoping to be placed in a rural hospital like the one where she is eastern shore of the state. >> i enjoy the patient there's. a lot of them haven't sought care in a couple years because they don't know how important it is to go see a doctor. >> maryland is expected to have a shortage of around 10,000 nurses in the years to come and the university is doing its part to bridge the gap. >> our enrollment is up. we feel a personal responsibility to make sure that maryland has enough registered nurses and professional nurses to neat care needs of the residents of maryland. >> although she is still in school, she feels responsibility. >> at the end of the day, i might have had a hard day or not eaten lunch but i can say i made a difference. >> salaries can vary widely if $45,000 on the low end all the way to $150,000 annually, depending on your degree and your location. but the job requires years of studying and lots of stamina in the work force. you can see the nurse students hard at work at the university back over to you. >> up next, we're on the money. a multimillion-dollar industry that is regulating itself. what's really in the food you're feeding your pets? >> and later, busting the retirement myth. we'll separate fact from fission so you'll be financially fit to make leap. now a look at how the stock market ended the week. fios is not cable. we're wired differently. maybe that's why we've been nked highest in customer satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. and now you can love fios too. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone. all for $79.99 per month online, two-year agreement. it's the only internet with equal upload and download speeds. cable only offers upload speeds that are a fraction of their download speeds. plus get hbo for a year and free multi-room dvr service for two years. and verizon wireless customers can stream tv on the fios mobile app, data-free. get the best. go to getfios.com here's a look at what's making news as we head into a new week. on the money. strong signs of a strong job market for the month of april. the economy created 211,000 new jobs last month, which was above expectations. and way better 79,000. the unemployment rate fell to 4.9%, the lowest since 2007. hiring was strong in leash you are and hospitality and health care. average hourly earnings rose .3% and that sent stocks higher in early trading after a record setting week for the nasdaq. the s&p 500 climbed early on friday as well though the dow lagged. the open market committee met this week and did it nothing, leaving interest rates unchanged. the fed meets again next month and is widely expected to raise rates then. and for the first time ever, more than half of american households just have cell phone service and no land line. the government study found about 60% have no land lines. >> we would do anything for them including trying buy the best food. but experts say behind those images of steak and chicken on the label potentially deceiving unsafe practices in the $26 billion pet food industry. a woman has been fighting for decades to change the pet food industry. >> pet food isn't food. it's feed. >> that's right. the companies that make dog and cat food follow same regulations used for animal feed. susan has been fighting to change that for 25 years after her dog died from bone cancer. >> a tumor bombed up on her almost overnight. >> her dog linked to it a chemical preservety in the dog food. that preservative is still okayed by the fda. and there's more. >> who bodies that fda allows a dead animal that laid in the fieldor recycled into pet food? >> the fda permits meat from animals that died without being slaughtered. according to the pet food manufacturer's trade group, safety is the top priority. >> we don't use nonslaughtered meat. >> just this year, two brands of dog food were pulled after a dog died from ingesting a dog used to euthanize animals. the company behind one of the recalled foods is now suing a supplier, saying what they thought was beef turned out to be horse meat. they tell us, we will never purchase from this beef supplier ever again. we immediately initiated even nor new testing methods and are testing every single beef product before being shipped. joe is a leading pet nutritionist at cornell university. >> it is left up to the consumer to know that it is safe. >> the fda does regulate pet food but lets a private organization set the standards for ingredients and they have zero regulatory authority and keeps the rules about feed and ingredients private. unless you pay for a copy. and right now, there are few safeguards in place for things like the commonly used ingredient meat meal. >> you have to call the company and and where it's coming from. we don't really know. >> according to they will, if meat comes from a renderer or leftover plant, it is typically identified as meal. the fda tells us there's no required testing of products by pet food manufacturers. so who is minding the store? according to the fda, manufacturers are responsible for taking appropriate steps to insure the food they produce is safe for consumption and properly labeled. >> they can't really tell you exactly what they're doing, then you probably should be looking for another pet food company. >> to that end, his best advice is to call the c point blank. what are you doing? where are they sourced from? get those answers before you buy the food. t the. >> this is changing my entire outlook on food. they recommend you buy that he had food that says human grade which meets the same standards that we eat. some make their own pet food. but it is critical that you and that it makes the nutritional guidelines which can be complex for cats and dogs. up next, on the money. are you saving enough for retirement? we will shatter some money myth that's could throw a wrench into your savings plan. and later, cutting out the middle man, cutting prices and it's a very simple procedure. we're just going to make one small incision here and we'll remove your '67 corvette. >> it's just a gallbladder. how do you become america's best-selling brand? you make it detect what they don't. stop, stop, stop! sorry. you make it sense what's coming. watch, watch, watch! mom. relax! i'm relaxed. you make it for 16-year olds... whoa-whoa-whoa!!! and the parents who worry about them. you saw him, right? going further to help make drivers, better drivers. don't freak out on me. that's ford. and that's how you become america's best-selling brand. it's never too early to start planning your retirement but there's lots of misinformation out there. the top financial retirement myths and how to avoid them, most importantly. joining me now, katie coleman, a financial adviser. one of the things we've heard, a million dollars. you need a million dollars to retire. ? my take is it's never just that easy. what you need to ow important number to achieve your retirement goal is making sure you know what your expenses are. your expenses and what you'll spend in retirement will drive how much you need to have available for you. >> a lot of times people will say, i'm going to need less money. that may not be true. >> what we find is in the early years of retirement, people spend more. because you have more time. when you have time, you spend money. >> are people relying too much on medicare? >> well, while medicare may be good for you for trips to the doctor or not only that, but for hospitalization, it won't cover long term care needs. >> what i mean by, we refer to it as extended care needs. if you need nursing home facilities, assisted living, or home care. that won't be covered. >> the other part of that is social security. it is something that we have seen taken out of our paychecks for decades. >> and count on this? will it really be there? >> right. >> so while they made some adjustments to social security in the '80s which was trying to help the longevity of it, what we have to focus on is while social security may be a piece of your retirement income, it won't cover all of your expenses. so you have to have other sources available to you to supplement your needs. and i've heard my own parents say, i'll just keep working. is that a viable plan for post 65 to 85 years old? >> so when we are planning for retirement, the important thing to remember is a lot of early retirement. 50%, people are forced to retire early because of disability or illness. you need to plan for a normal retirement age and then it will be an added benefit if you can work later on. >> when you're planning for housing and what percentage of your retirement saving. account for 35%, actually about 37% of your expenses. what we're seeing is later if life, more retirees are moving and they may not have planned for that in their earlier retirement years. what's happening is it is becoming unaffordable or they can no longer maintain or updkep the property. >> thank you so much. upnext, a look at the news for years ahead. and mother's day next weekend. if you're thinking about flowers for mom, lots of time. and a new way to o direct from the flower farm. how do you become america's best-selling brand? you make it detect what they don't. stop, stop, stop! sorry. you make it sense what's coming. watch, watch, watch! mom. relax! i'm relaxed. you make it for 16-year olds... whoa-whoa-whoa!!! and the parents who worry about them. you saw him, right? going further to help make drivers, better drivers. don't freak out on me. that's ford. and that's how you become america's best-selling brand. here are the stories that may have an impact on your money this week. tuesday it is a monthly survey that measures the economic opt mix of small business owners. in 1914 woodrow wilson declared the very first mother's day, wednesday, back in 1869, the final nail known as the golden spike was driven into the rails, completing manager's first trans continental railroad. and a gauge of inflation with the release of the consumer price index. plus the data expectations. >> most people are sentimental about their moms and mother's day is next weekend, may 14. i'm sure you knew that. $2.6 billion will be spent on flowers according to the national retail federation. some new players are disrupting the traditional delivery services. the founder and ceo of the books company, thank you for joining us. great to see you. tell me how your service works. >> so the traditional supply chain is very long and convoluted. there are about six layers between a farmer and a consumer. so we let you shop directly from the farmer. >> so your flowers are coming directly from the people growing flowers. >> they could be in ecuador, chile, peru. >> how in the world did you manage to get the logistics in place to get flowers from ecuador to a home in rural pennsylvania? >> yeah. so my co-founder grew up on rose farm in exwith a dor. his nail is juan pablo and his family has been multigenerational flower farmers. farmers really have a tough gig in the floral. >> slim profit margins. cash flow is tough to come by. you have a lot of fixed costs and labor. so he hacked it to better his own family's business. and i said that's amazing. let's let that same technology to help farmers all over the world. >> what's the advantage for the consumers? >> well, number one, transparency. in our industry, it is important to know where they came from the same way you might shop organic in a store. you want to shop a farm that is oregoneckly grown. because flowers don't have a stamp on them, you don't know that. so we can guarantee that it is ethically sourced. they'll be cheaper. we tend to be 10 to and then by the time it arrives, in a traditional supply chain, will be two weeks. >> so it might last longer than the kitchen table. >> what about these arrangements? if they're coming from the flower farm, are you more likely to get flowers from the region? >> that's right. so you will shop by region. you can go on our website. i want to shop the volcano cas ecuador. >> what about pricing? sometimes there are hidden fees. >> it is pretty notorious in floral that the price you see is not the price you pay. it will say $19.99 and then when they take your credit card, it is $70. so it is all the trans parent pricing. we do free delivery for anyone signing up. fits $40, it is $40. >> and then so many people are going online. but there's our local florist at would you ever order a brick and mortar floral shop? >> the one thing farm direct doesn't do is really fast. so for our clients that need it today. you really screwed up or forgot. that allows us to have on demand and to help some local businesses as well. i don't know if we'll open our own shops but we want to work the best in the world. >> the flowers are beautiful. that's the show for today. i'm contessa brewer. we'll have a conversation with warren buffett on the biggest mistakes he sees for people saving for retirement. each week, keep it here. we are "on the money. [ chanting ] >> all: hey, ho, ho. good morning, america. new overnight. fired up. >> we have bodies, we have minds! >> some members of congress taking the heat for supporting the republicans' health care bill. >> the bill protects preexisting conditions. >> no, no. >> fighting off their constituents' concerns. why many feel betrayed by washington. >> you feel your congressman sold you out? >> yes, absolutely. election day in france. voters casting their ballots in a presidential runoff. between centrist front runner emmanuel macron and far-right candidate marine le pen. the hacking just hours before voters hit the polls. e-mails and documents, some of them fake, leaked on social media. will it affect the outcome? >>