The College Solutions Blog

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

Parents

Living in an Empty Nest: Parents' Biggest Fears

If you’re going to be living in an empty nest soon, this column is for you. I’ll officially be an empty nester next month when my son heads off the college. My daughter is already back in college. I wanted to share a column, written by Lee Bierer, an independent college counselor and a syndicated columnist, about facing the prospects...

Taking a Shower With Your Eyes Closed

Are you jealous that your child is in college and you’re stuck at home paying for it? I feel that way sometimes and so do many of my friends. But when I get nostalgic about my own days at the University of Missouri, I realize that I have conveniently forgotten about a certain aspect of college life. At some point,...

My Kids Are Growing Up

Saturday was a bittersweet day. My son Benjamin graduated from High Tech High. Ben received his diploma along with about 150 other seniors on the school’s lawn on a beautiful (naturally) morning in San Diego. High Tech High has never ranked students – that’s one of the things that I love about the school – so we didn’t have to...

How I Ended Up Writing Three College Blogs!

How many college blogs is too many? I am sheepishly asking this question because I’ve just started writing for my third college blog. You can find my newest college blog at US News & World Report. My first post, The 10 Best College Websites, went live on the site this afternoon. I launched my first college blog, The College Solution,...

Putting Your College Debt On Hold

I got an email this week from Sharon, a mom who is distraught about her son’s college debt. She was hoping that I had an idea about how he can tackle this debt when he is only working part-time. I did have a suggestion on how the young college grad can reduce his student debt burden. I thought it would...

529 Plans: Investing at the Last Minute

Are 529 plans only for younger children? The answer is absolutely not! I think a lot of parents with college-bound teenagers, however, assume that their days of contributing to a 529 plan is over. By this time, parents are beginning to drain their 529 plan. You could save a bundle in taxes, however, if you continue to contribute to a...

Funny Stories from Studying Abroad

I’m a big believer in students studying abroad for a semester in college. My daughter Caitlin is one of the rare students who studied overseas for an entire school year. If I’m remembering correctly, only 5% of college students who study overseas stay for a year. Caitlin studied at the University of Barcelona. I think living in Barcelona was a...

Being a Mom on Mother's Day

Mother’s Day always makes me cry. On this day, I remember my own mom, who was a teacher, and an incredible inspiration to me. She died suddenly in 2002, just hours after she had picked up her latest stack of books at the library and played tennis with dear friends. I also think about how fast my own two children...

Private School Loans: 6 Tips to Pick the Right Loan

If you need a private school loan, here are some final suggestions as I wrap up a week of blogging about college loans: 1. First, read this week’s posts on student and parent loans: 5 Things You Need to Know About Private School Loans College Loans: When Parents Need to Borrow 4 Things You Need to Know About Federal Student...

5 Things You Need to Know About Private School Loans

Earlier this week, I talked with Tim Ranzetta, a national expert on college loans and the founder of Student Lending Analytics. Today, I wanted to share some of his advice about private school loans that can save you money! Here are some things that you absolutely need to know about private school loans: 1. Students should max out their federal...