The College Solutions Blog

August 31, 2011

Before my son Ben left to start his sophomore year at Beloit College, we talked about the advice in a chapter of The Thinking Student’s Guide to College: 75 Tips for Getting a Better Education. I’ve mentioned before how much I love this book and I think every college-bound student should read it. Andrew Roberts, an assistant professor of political...

August 25, 2011

This week, I’ve been focusing on colleges and universities that are pricey. Here the the posts if you’ve missed them:  Is That Flagship Worth the Price? Attending Expensive East Coast Universities The majority of students limit their college choices to schools within two hours of driving distance, but those who want to look elsewhere tend to salivate over the same...

July 21, 2011

Interested in some summer reading? I’ve got bookcases packed with college books in my home office. In this YouTube video, however, I share some of my favorite books about college. College Workshop I’ll be giving the final college workshop this Saturday (July 23) in a summer series for parents and teenagers at the University of California, San Diego. If you’d...

July 12, 2011

How do you choose a college major? I explored that question yesterday. If you missed it, here’s the link: Stressing About College Majors Today I want to share some five tips on selecting a college major: 1. Rethink a business major. Business is the most popular major in the country, but don’t assume that you have to major in business...

June 21, 2011

Today I’m sharing a piece written by Scott Coltrane, the dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon, on the beauty and practicality of a liberal arts degree. The popularity of liberal arts degrees is clearly declining. According to a thought-provoking article I read this month in The New Yorker, only 40% of college students graduate with a...

June 14, 2011

Are we trapped in a higher-ed bubble? Some college insiders are offering persuasive arguments that we are. Reminiscent of the recent stock market and real estate bubbles, escalating college prices are continuing to reach new heights. According to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, average tuition in the past 2 ½ decades has risen by 440 %,...

June 9, 2011

Earlier this year, I wrote a couple of posts about this reality:  many students are graduating from college without absorbing much of an education. From a parent’s perspective that’s a lot of wasted money. And, of course, there are serious ramifications for students who have spent their college years living in a Bud Lite commercial. Here are the two posts:...

May 10, 2011

What Is a small college? In recent posts, I’ve been looking at the size of colleges and explaining why size matters. It drives me nuts that students routinely pick schools by size without understanding the educational ramifications of their choices. Here are my three previous posts on this subject: What’s a Medium-Sized University? What is a Research University? Do You...

May 9, 2011

What does it mean when a teenager says, “I want to go to a medium-sized university?” In the last couple of posts I’ve been discussing the issue of college size. Kids often base a great deal of their decision about college on its size and I’ve been suggesting reasons why that can be a problem. Here are my past two...

April 18, 2011

Is earning a business degree a waste of time? That’s essentially what I said in a piece that The New York Times published today. Here is my post: But Can They Write? The Times asked me and some higher-ed experts, including biz school deans, to write about the value of a business degree because of a story that ran in...