The College Solutions Blog

April 20, 2011

I got a question this week from a mom about grandparent contributions to college. It’s great to have generous grandparents who want to help with college costs, but you don’t want any gifts to backfire. Here are five things to keep in mind when grandparents want to help with college: No. 1. If your family isn’t going to qualify for...

April 11, 2011

I got an opportunity to visit my son Ben this weekend at Beloit College in Wisconsin and I was surprised about what he wanted to talk about when we met up for dinner. Moral relativism. Ben has been studying moral relativism in his philosophy class and he finds the concept intriguing.  Over a meal of tacos and burritos (truly dreadful...

March 30, 2011

I’ve been hearing from parents of high school seniors lately who are either elated by their financial aid awards or utterly depressed. Here are some examples: A dear friend of mine is thrilled because her son Geoffrey received a very large need-based aid package to Macalester College, which is where he is heading in the fall. (Gosh, I just love...

March 27, 2011

I’ve been getting emails from parents lately who are stressed out because the financial aid packages that they’ve received for their high school seniors are terribly inadequate. On the flip side, I’ve been getting effusive emails from parents who did a great job of matching their kids with the sort of schools that would give them the best aid packages...

March 7, 2011

I’m the kind of person who sadly has a hard time relaxing. I can’t, for instance, just walk my Golden Retriever. It’s too boring watching her sniff the same bushes and tree trunks every day. I used to try to read a newspaper or magazine on these walks, but turning pages when the wind is blowing or the dog is...

February 22, 2011

I’m trying something different today. I have posted a college video of myself talking about the importance of the Expected Family Contribution. Riveting stuff! If you don’t know what your EFC is, you really should find out now! FYI, I plan on posting college videos on various topics on a regular basis....

February 15, 2011

This week I’m going to focus on some financial aid nuts and bolts. I want to address one of the questions that puzzle families the most:  Will a college award my child any money? Most parents have no clue how to answer this question. In fact, they usually don’t find out if a college is willing to kick in some...

January 25, 2011

Last month I wrote a blog post about the movie Race to Nowhere that’s being shown at high schools across the country. I pretty much trashed the movie – here is the post: Race to Nowhere Skeptic If you want to get an idea of why I’d like to hurl some overripe tomatoes at a screening of this movie, check...

January 24, 2011

I’ve always thought that parents and teenagers spend way too much time worrying about getting into college and not enough on being prepared for college. I was thinking about that this weekend after I left a birthday party Saturday at a restaurant in downtown San Diego for an old friend. About 200 people attended the mega birthday celebration and I...

January 17, 2011

American colleges and universities are continually getting slammed for costing too much, but there are precious few people suggesting concrete ways to shrink these costs. The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, however, has produced a white paper that lays out: 25 Ways to Reduce the Cost of College There are some excellent suggestions on the center’s list. What do...