The College Solutions Blog

August 17, 2009

Those of you who read this blog regularly might be wondering where I’ve been. My son, daughter, husband and I headed to Zion National Park in Utah for a short vacation before my daughter flies to the University of Barcelona for her junior year of college. We only brought my daughter Caitlin’s laptop and when I tried to post anything...

August 14, 2009

Every weekend, I like to share the most recent college posts that I wrote for CBSMoneyWatch.com. The post that generated the most traffic — and great placement on CBSMoneyWatch.com — focused on a young woman, who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in just two years.Even for a bright student that’s quite a feat. As I mention in the...

August 13, 2009

Last week when I was filling in as a guest lecturer for the college counseling certificate program at the University of California, San Diego, I exchanged messages with a mother/college counselor who felt very strongly that kids in San Diego should attend college here. Her arguments? She reasoned that students couldn’t get summer jobs at fast-food restaurants and at other...

August 12, 2009

Stories about how students can save and earn money in colleges are a dime a dozen. Sell textbooks, buy a cheap meal plan, blah, blah, blah. I get bored whenever I read (or write) one. Yesterday, however,  Zac Bissonnette, a talented  young guy and student, who writes about college for The Daily Beast and AOL’s WalletPop, sent me his version...

August 2, 2009

I told you so! That’s what I was thinking when I wrote one of my college blog posts last week for CBSMoneyWatch.com. With the media writing nonstop about how teenagers could only afford public institutions in this wretched economy, I must have looked like a lunatic when I insisted that private colleges could still be the cheapest alternative for many...

June 25, 2009

When I’m giving a college talk, I’m always amazed at how many parents ask me about college gap year opportunities. I’m surprised because I happen to be focused on getting my teenagers out of college in four years. It never occurred to me to delay the inevitable. That said,  there legitimate reasons why teenagers and their parents might be interested...

June 24, 2009

Hallelujah. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is getting simplified. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan  announced plans to make the FAFSA, which includes 135 questions on assets and income, more user friendly today. The news isn’t surprising. At his confirmation hearing, Duncan had this to say about the FAFSA form: “You basically have to have a Ph.D. to...

February 27, 2009

It’s that time of year when high school seniors are receiving college acceptances. It’s also the season for families worried about how they’re going to pay the tab in the fall. Not surprisingly then, when you look at the top 10 search words on Google today, you’ll find the term “college scholarships”:  Evangeline Lilly  Biba Golic  Trisha Yearwood  Portuguese Water...

February 19, 2009

My son Ben, who is a junior in high school, is taking a pre-calculus class at a San Diego community college a couple of nights a week. After the first class, Ben told me that the professor explained quite dramatically that he would not accept any excuses for late assignments. To illustrate how serious he was about this edict, the...

December 3, 2008

A report that was released today made me feel guilty. The study concluded that the number of part-time instructors who are teaching our kids at public universities and colleges has reached an alarming level. Temporary faculty members now teach 49% of the more than 1.5 million undergraduate classes that are held each semester at public colleges and universities. The vast...