The College Solutions Blog

May 17, 2011

Yesterday I shared the news that my daughter Caitlin graduated from college this week. And she did it in four years, which is a rare feat for today’s college students. If you missed the post here it is: Caitlin Graduates from Juniata College Today, I wanted to share what I wrote for my college blog over CBS MoneyWatch that mentions...

April 26, 2011

Should you be worried about your child’s future college major? Many moms and dads are. I want to share three extreme examples of parental majoritis:   Parent No. 1 After hearing my talk at a high school last week, a mom confided to me that she was worried about her daughter because she didn’t know what her major would be....

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...

March 13, 2011

Do you need to graduate from an Ivy League school or other super elite college to earn the highest salaries? Many families believe that graduates who can put Harvard or Yale on their resume will fare significantly better financially than smart students who end up earning their degrees from elsewhere. In a famous study, two economists tackled this question nearly...

March 9, 2011

I wanted to share with you a question that I received in response to my last post: Is Any College Worth $50,000? The gist of my blog post was that no school is worth a $50,000-a-year price tag and that some affluent families are looking at schools lower on the academic pecking order that provide discounts. That prompted one of...

January 20, 2011

During the holiday break, my daughter Caitlin was networking back home in San Diego in hopes of laying the groundwork for getting a job when she graduates in May. One of the entrepreneurs whom Caitlin talked to suggested that she pursue her fledgling business – Something Sunny. With seed money from the state of Pennsylvania and Juniata College, Caitlin launched...

January 17, 2011

I wanted to share an email that I got recently from Mark Couch, an assistant professor of philosophy and director of the Liberal Studies Program at Seton Hall University. He was reacting to a post that I wrote for my CBS MoneyWatch college blog. I thought what the philosophy professor had to say was worth sharing because too many parents...

January 8, 2011

If you want to get into the movie industry, do you need to go to film school? That’s what I was wondering after two stressed dads, within the space a few days, emailed me about how they are going to pay for their teenagers’ dreams to attend a film school. Film schools tend to be located in extremely expensive universities...

December 17, 2010

I’m giving the commencement speech today for the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. I graduated from the J School back in 1978 and I was stunned when the dean asked me to be the commencement speaker for the December graduating class. I thought I’d share the speech here. It’s going to be most relevant for students who are contemplating...

December 3, 2010

My daughter, who is a Spanish major, will be graduating from college in the spring and like many college seniors, she is stressing about finding a job. While the job market is still ailing, a new national survey of 4,600 employers suggests that jobs will be more plentiful for the graduating class of 2011. According to an annual survey conducted...