The College Solutions Blog

November 30, 2009

With the economy in the toilet, more students think they need to major in something practical, which is one reason why business is the most popular college major. Many students also believe they need to declare their college major before they ever step foot on their campuses. Actually, more and more universities are requiring that their students select a major...

August 29, 2009

I want to welcome all my new visitors today, who discovered my blog thanks to the radio show that was broadcast this morning around the country. If you’ve got teenagers and you’re stressing about college, my blog should be a huge help.  You’ll find some of the best stuff in my college blog’s archives. Here are sections of the archives...

July 13, 2009

If you have a child who is attending — or hopes to attend — a school in the University of California or California State University systems, these are scary times. Tuition at the 23 Cal State schools is expected to jump by 30% for the fall semester. Tuition at the University of California campuses will increase more than 9%. Students...

April 27, 2009

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...

April 21, 2009

Just thinking about what it takes to get into college today can be exhausting.  High school kids are supposed to take challenging classes, study for the dreaded SAT/ACT, round up teacher recommendation, complete applications, nag their parents to fill out financial aid forms ….it never seems to end. But today was a triumph for the two seniors who ride in...

March 13, 2009

A double major in college seems like a no brainer to many students today, who want to capture a competitive advantage in the work world. Some academics, however, argue that double majoring doesn’t necessarily provide that edge. Even worse, double majoring keeps many students from graduating on time. The double major issue came up when I was talking to a...

October 6, 2008

I’ve always been a nag about college rankings. It’s unfortunate that the first yardstick that many families grab when they are measuring schools is the annual US college rankings by U.S. News & World Reports. Simply whining about college rankings, however, isn’t very helpful, which is why I’m excited about a new report that was released today by the Association...

July 18, 2008

It’s been imprinted on the brains of millions of teenagers that the best way to make money in life is to earn a college degree. The College Board conveniently reminds us all of this with its periodic releases about the financial value of a degree. Over a lifetime, for instance, the typical person with a bachelor’s degree will earn about...

July 11, 2008

One way to shrink the cost of college is to never show up. A story in The New York Times today reports that an increasing number of college students are taking online classes because of the high price of gasoline. With at least 79% of college students living off campus, the exploding price of gas can gut budgets. There obviously...

July 9, 2008

The U.S. Census Department released a grab bag of education statistics this week. You might discover some surprising ones in this list: 18.4 million That’s the number of students who will be attending the nation’s colleges and universities this fall. If that seems like a lot of kids, it is. Twenty years ago, 13.5 million students were attending college. 8.6...