The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

Cutting the Cost of College With Better Grades

One morning at a breakfast chat with parents at my son’s high school, the principal mentioned that he is always amazed at how few students at the end of each semester ask teachers how they might improve their grades. It should be a no brainer, the principal suggested, for students to ask their teachers if they can do extra credit...

Free Graduate Degrees: Is This Fair?

Some students are lucky enough to earn a free graduate degree. Others will pay tens of thousands of dollars or more for a master’s degree or PhD. The tab – if any – often depends on what a student is studying. If you’re bright enough to major in chemistry (an unfathomable subject for this little ole journalism major), you can...

The 529 College Plan Debacle

Any parent who owns a 529 college plan knows who to blame for their shriveled-up account balances — Wall Street. But the real story behind the 529 debacle is much more complicated than that. I explain how why we got into this 529 plan mess at my other college blog at CBSMoneyWatch.com. Please check it out today! Lynn O’Shaughnessy is...

Why Teens Take AP Classes

The number of high school students who are taking Advance Placement classes is skyrocketing. In 2002, 1 million students took at least one AP exam, but five years later the teens signing up for a AP test jumped more than 50% to 1.6 million students. Is all this popularity a good thing? Probably not. Curious about this trend, the Thomas...

Student Health Insurance at College

If your child is heading to college this fall will he or she be covered by your health insurance? Unfortunately, it’s no longer a given that students will be protected by their parents’ health insurance policies. In fact, the federal government has estimated that roughly 20% of students don’t have college student health insurance. Here’s one reason for the lack...

The Popularity of Engineering Majors

With the economy flatlining, practical majors are starting to look awfully good. Heck with linquistics and comparative literature. More students are declaring themselves engineering majors. Undergraduate engineering programs, according to an article in The Christian Science Monitor, haven’t been this popular in three decades. Since 2007, the number of undergraduate engineering students has jumped 7.5%. During the same period, graduate...

Fill Out The FAFSA!

Everybody whose child is in college or is heading there in the fall needs to repeat after me: I will not leave money on the table. Huh? I suggested the oath after I discovered that millions of students are not applying for federal student aid. According to a new analysis by Mark Kantrowitz, who runs FinAid.org, 8.4 million students never...

Getting Higher Test Scores

What is the best way to earn higher test scores? Reading your textbook and notes over and over again isn’t going to cut it, according to some new research. While poring over the written material seems like a no brainer, researchers from Purdue and Washington University insist that it’s not the best approach. Here’s a better way to improve test...

The Pros and Cons of Summer School for Teenagers

Is your teenager contemplating going to summer school? Just thinking back to my daughter’s summer school experience gives me the chills. When Caitlin was in high school she took an honor’s chemistry class during the summer. She spent about 12 hours a day studying chemistry. It was hellish, but then the girls’ high school she attended was an academic meat...

The Perils of Private Student Loans

More college kids are taking out private student loans than ever before. New federal data shows that the number of undergrads borrowing private dollars has jumped from 5% to 14% in four years. Why do I care? Because private student loans can be dangerous. Private loans are typically more expensive than federal student loans. And while federal loans offer fixed...