The College Solutions Blog

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

College Costs

New College Cost Calculators: What You Need to Know

Most parents aren’t going to pay full price for college. College costs aren’t nearly as high as the official sticker prices. According to the College Board, two-thirds of families will capture a price discount on college costs. Too bad parents and teenagers don’t know this. If they did, it would certainly expand the college choices of millions of students. And...

College Case Study: Great Colleges for a Smart Girl

In my last post, I shared two case studies of high school seniors who are wondering what colleges they should apply to in a few months. Here’s my previous post: 2 College Case Studies: Where Should These Teens Go to College? Today, I want to share some of the issues that Lucienne and her parents face. I don’t think any...

2 College Case Studies: Where Should These Teens Go to College?

Over the past two years, I’ve written scores of posts on this college blog about how to evaluate schools. Just the other day, I wrote a piece about my 10 favorite college websites. It can be challenging for families, however, to know how to use these tools to find the right colleges at the right price. Consequently, I wanted to...

Top 10 Best College Websites

What are the best college websites in the country? I tried to answer that question earlier this week when I wrote my first college blog post for US News & World Report. In the post, I nominated my own favorite college websites which can be invaluable for finding colleges, researching schools, pinpointing the generosity of individual colleges and learning about...

A Law Professor's Take on College Admissions

Does anybody else use Google Alert to see what other people are saying about you? I confess I do. I have Google alert me if someone mentions me or my college blogs on the Internet. And that’s how I stumbled across a post written by Tom Smith, a law professor, at a blog called, The Right Coast: Thoughts from San...

Financial Aid: How to Find Out If You Qualify

Today I want to share one of the many financial aid questions that I tackle in my new eBook, Shrinking the Cost of College: 152 Ways to Cut the Cost of a Bachelor’s Degree. This question happens to be one that I believe most families worry about: How do you know if you will qualify for financial aid? Here are...

The Hazards of Chasing an Athletic Scholarship

I wanted to share a great response about athletic scholarships that I received after posting, 2 Worst Places to Find College Cash. I heard from Kris Hinz, who is a college counselor at Position U 4 College, who was agreeing with me that too many parents think that their kids are going to win athletic scholarships. Only 2% of high...

2 Worst Places to Look for College Cash

This week I intend to share with you a few of the money saving tips in my new eBook, Shrinking the Cost of Colleges: 152 Tips to Cut the Price of a Bachelor’s Degree. Inside the eBook, you’ll find the best sources of college cash. Here’s Lesson No. 1: One of the most important things you can do to shrink...

Who Isn't Graduating From College?

Should more high school graduates go to college? This question has been getting a lot of attention since President Obama announced that one of his prime education goals would be to get more Americans to attend college. That’s a laudable and ambitious goal. I worry, however, about students, who are unprepared for college. They often get entangled in a huge...

America's Most Expensive College Textbooks

What are the most expensive textbooks in America? This week I provided the answer. At my other college blog over at CBSMoneyWatch, I wrote a post that contained the names of the 12 most expensive college textbooks. The most expensive one — Acta Philosophorum The First Journal of Philosophy – cost $1,450 retail. The next priciest textbook is Encyclopedia of...