The College Solutions Blog

April 20, 2012

Yesterday’s post, which explored the school options of a brilliant teenager from Wisconsin, generated many insightful comments from parents.  Here is the post: Should a Kid Borrow $80,000 for a Brand-Name University? If you missed the post or the comments, I’d urge you to check both out. To summarize, the teenager managed to get admitted to some elite schools including...

April 13, 2012

For many years I was a financial journalist who wrote about such garden-variety investment topics as 401(k)’s, IRA’s, mutual funds, bonds and how investors can assemble a retirement portfolio that will last longer than they do. I enjoyed what I was doing until I stumbled across a financial topic that I knew nothing about when my daughter was in high...

April 12, 2012

If you don’t have the cash, is an Ivy League school or any other university that the college rankings gods worship worth the cost? Affluent families have been asking me that lately. Yesterday afternoon, for instance, I got a call from a dad in Maryland, who wanted my opinion about the three schools on his daughter’s short list. The father...

April 6, 2012

Yesterday, a frustrated mom posted a comment on my college blog that expressed her doubts that merit scholarships even exist. Here is what Wendy had to say: How Many Students Receive Merit Scholarships? Wendy’s comment is a timely one because this week the National Association of College and University Business Officers released its annual statistics on merit scholarships and grants...

April 3, 2012

I received an email from a mom over the weekend who was unhappy that her daughter, who beat the odds and got into an Ivy League school, didn’t receive a scholarship from the institution. Here is her note: Our annual household income is more than $750,000 –my daughter is admitted to Harvard – does that mean we have to pay...

March 30, 2012

College price tags are meaningless. If you’ve spent much time on my college blog you already appreciate that these numbers don’t mean anything, but most families don’t. About two thirds of students attending state and private schools receive scholarships or grants and the number rises to about 88% at private institutions, which have to offer more discounts for students to...

March 28, 2012

When families look at financial aid packages they often assume that a school’s financial aid support will remain the same for four years. That, however, is a dangerous assumption to make. The financial support that some colleges and universities give students will shrink after their freshmen year. Bait and Switch? Why would this happen? I can’t speak for schools that...

March 26, 2012

I continue to receive a lot of  comments from last week’s post about the Texas mother, who was bitterly disappointed that her extremely accomplished daughter has been getting underwhelming merit awards or none at all from universities.  This mother was hoping for large merit scholarships because her family is too affluent to qualify for need-based aid. If you missed it,...

March 23, 2012

Over the last 24-hours, I received a lot of great comments and some emails in reaction to this college blog post: An Email from a Disillusioned Mom If you haven’t read the post, I’d urge you to do so. The email came from a mother of a very bright girl from an affluent family, who received little to no merit...

March 19, 2012

When you appeal a college’s financial aid award what happens to your request? During the last admission season, The Chronicle of Higher Education provided an inside glimpse into how a financial aid appeal is handled internally in a fascinating article entitled: When Families Ask Colleges for More Money A Chronicle reporter observed financial aid deliberations that took place among senior...