The College Solutions Blog

December 31, 2008

I’ve talked to lots of parents who are wondering how they are going to foot the college tab with their investments in tatters. Hey, I’m right in there with everybody else with a sophomore attending a private college and a junior in high school. While parents like me are grappling with how to compensate for college account losses, universities are...

December 29, 2008

Even before the stock market imploded and the recession struck, students were finding it increasingly difficult to pay for college. Students are borrowing at higher levels than they ever had before. At least two out of three students leave school saddled with student debt. With the financial industry and others getting bailed out, higher ed leaders are wondering why students...

December 22, 2008

An increasing number of high school seniors are deciding to skip applying to private colleges and universities because they worry that the costs will be too high in these hard economic times. That was the gist of a story in today’s New York Times. While it’s always essential to apply to financial safety schools, families could be cutting off their...

December 17, 2008

With the cost of  bachelor degrees continuing to soar far higher than the rate of inflation, you might assume that college presidents would be reevaluating the tuition arms race. Surely during these hard times, institutions must be thinking of ways to shrink costs in a meaningful way. Maybe not. An education think tank, which conducted in-depth interviews with two dozen...

December 16, 2008

The double whammy of the recession and the stock market implosion is making the college matchmaking ritual even more tense. Is there anybody out there who is in better shape to pay for college today than a few months ago? I didn’t think so. Ways still remain to shrink the cost of college, but you have to toss aside at...

December 12, 2008

With today’s economy drawing comparisons to the Great Depression, plenty of students will be working longer hours to underwrite the costs of their degrees. But how many hours can a student work without jeopardizing his or her grades? In an analysis of studies on this question, the American Council on Education determined that college students who work more than 15...

November 2, 2008

It’s hard to give much thought to college with election day in sight. I’m heading to a phone bank in San Diego shortly, but I thought I’d write a quick blog. I received an email the other day from a dad in St. Louis, who heard me give a talk about college while I was back there last week. The...

October 31, 2008

Here’s a news bulletin that’s certainly appropriate for Halloweeen: The cost of a bachelor’s degree has climbed again. According to the College Board, tuition and fees for the 2008-09 school year jumped anywhere from 4.5% to 6.5%, depending on the type of institution. Here are today’s typical tuition costs: Four-year public institution: $6,585. Four-year private college: $25,143. Community college: $2,300....

September 25, 2008

If a teenager plans to major in theater or social work should he or she assume more student debt than a kid who plans to become an engineer or an accountant? Most families aren’t concerned about the earnings potential of their children when exploring colleges. According to a recent commentary in The Christian Science Monitor, 70% of students and parents...

September 13, 2008

For the last three days, I’ve been attending the 100th anniversary of the journalism school at the University of Missouri. My alma mater. The most amazing thing that I saw while I was on campus for the first time in 28 years didn’t occur at the journalism school though it was bustling with J School graduates. Attendees during the celebration...