(MONEY Magazine) – Your August issue had the greatest idea I have ever seen in the magazine: a tax-advantaged Savings Account for Future Education (SAFE). I was in college from 1936 to 1940. Four years of college and a B.A. degree cost approximately $2,000. When my two sons were in college in the late '60s and early '70s, four years of college for both cost me between $50,000 and $60,000. My wife and I now have two grandsons. All estimates we have seen on the subject agree that the cost of four years of college in the next 15 or 18 years will be about $250,000 to $300,000. The hope, the future and the prosperity of any nation depend solely on the education, the skills and the abilities of each succeeding generation. The establishment of a tax-exempt educational fund is one of the primary imperatives facing this nation. Howard L. Powell Orlando

I graduated third in my high school class, but my mother couldn't afford to send me to college. At the age of 17, the thought of student loans scared me to death. Consequently, with no knowledge of how financial aid worked and no guidance counselor that really cared to discuss the details with me, I made the decision not to go to college. I don't want the thought of paying for my son's education to frighten him or me. A University of Chicago study stated that, within five years of leaving school, college graduates will earn approximately 80% more than their nongraduating peers. If a person can get a tax break on an IRA, why not on a SAFE? Both are investments in our future. I'd rather my son was the taxpayer whose money helped pay for those food stamps or that welfare check than be the man waiting in line to get them. Wilma R. Stordahl Spokane

Our special fall 1990 MONEY Guide: America's Best College Buys offers comprehensive strategy on investing and saving for college. The guide also provides key data on 1,000 colleges, including a ranking of the top 200 schools for your money. It is available on newsstands, or you can order it by sending $4.50 to Money Guide: America's Best College Buys, P.O. Box 30626, Tampa, Fla. 33630.