The College Solutions Blog

August 3, 2009

Merit scholarships have always been controversial in higher-ed circles because many of these awards end up going to rich kids. A study just released by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute suggests that college scholarship practices have led to lower numbers of minority and lower-income students on campuses. This finding would refute the argument that many college administrators make that...

June 29, 2009

If you are stressing about how to pay for your child’s bachelor’s degree, the news today from an association of private colleges and universities isn’t going to make you break out the champagne at dinner tonight. In a self-congratulatory press release, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, announced that the average tuition increase among private colleges and universities...

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...

April 10, 2009

Colleges loath the “N” word. Administrators hate it when parents call them up and want to negotiate a better financial aid package. Well, that’s too bad. Colleges cost too much money for families to automatically agree to a six-figure commitment. If you’re going to negotiate, however, you’re nearly out of time. The traditional deadline for deposits to secure a spot...

March 31, 2009

The New York Times published a front-page article recently which discussed how some colleges are giving preferential treatment to rich students.  The trend shouldn’t be surprising. Actually, the vast majority of private colleges have been playing out of this rule book for many years. It didn’t take the current financial crisis to trigger it. Regardless of how you feel about...

March 30, 2009

No doubt most teenagers who attend state universities never look beyond their borders. If you’re a kid living in Los Angeles, the cost of going to UCLA or Berkeley is going to be cheaper than attending another flagship like the University of Texas or the University of Michigan. What keeps plenty of kids from wandering too far from home is...

March 21, 2009

Community college scholarships are going begging. That’s what the faculty senate president at a community college in San Diego told me this morning when I bumped into him at the dog park. He wasn’t talking about federal Pell Grants or other state or federal aid. He was referring to community college scholarship that benefactors have started at particular schools. Sometimes...

February 21, 2009

  When parents start talking to me about college, they often mention that they’ve been haranguing their kids about applying for private scholarships. It happened again on Wednesday night before I gave a talk at High Tech High in San Diego, which is where my son is a junior. A mother expressed frustration that her teenage son wasn’t prowling for...

February 9, 2009

Believe it or not, a handful of colleges charge less tuiton than a bag of theater popcorn. Actually, they are free.The New York Times wrote about one of the schools, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, in today’s edition. Not surprisingly, students submitting 2009 early decision applications to the school, which is an amazing place for...

February 8, 2009

Have you ever heard of a college prereading an application? Probably not, but in this scary economic climate, prereads could become commonplace. I learned about prereads last week when I was reporting on a package of stories for a national media outlet on various financial aid strategies. When the articles are published in a month, I’ll provide the links from...