The College Solutions Blog

February 27, 2012

The No. 1 way to cut the cost of college is to become an educated consumer. You can learn how by attending my popular online course, The College Cost Lab. Learn more about The College Cost Lab that will start in June, 2017. Lynn O’Shaughnessy Deadbeat Parents Who Won’t Help Pay for College I got an email over the weekend...

February 20, 2012

What are the most generous colleges and universities in the country? US News & World Report attempts to answer that question every year when it rolls out its lists of institutions that self report that they meet 100% of each student’s financial need. Today I’m sharing the latest list that US News released last week. Not surprisingly, highly elite schools...

January 2, 2012

I want to give a big thanks to all of my regular visitors — and the new folks too — who helped to make 2011 the best year ever for The College Solution! I know 2011 was my best year because I use Google Analytics to keep track of how many people visit my college blog. Now that we’re in...

November 9, 2011

One of the frustrations of applying to college is the confusing nature of many financial aid awards. Even when a teenager has received a puny financial aid award, schools don’t necessarily want families to know this.  Some parents will look at a misleading financial aid award and think their child has won scholarships to cover much of the cost of...

November 3, 2011

Student loan debt is at its highest level ever. That’s the conclusion of a new report released on Thursday by The Project on Student Debt. Two thirds of students in the class of 2010 graduated with college debt that averaged $25,250, which is the highest it’s ever been. Students mostly borrowed through federal loans, but at least 22% of the...

October 28, 2011

Most of the teenagers who visit my college blog aren’t thinking yet about how they are going to come up with the cash to pay off any future student loans. High school students and their parents are more focused on getting into good schools. I don’t blame them, but payback time is inevitable. And that’s when it’s going to get...

August 22, 2011

On Friday I was one of the guests on The Early Show on CBS talking about who should be responsible for paying for college — students or parents. Obviously, the answer for most families is both parents and students. So the CBS segment didn’t break any new ground nor was it particularly illuminating, but it was great to be on...

July 20, 2011

The majority of families end up borrowing for college. But when parents and teenagers talk about how they are going to divide up that responsibility, they rarely possess a good idea of what this debt burden is going to mean for them when the bills come due. That’s why I’m recommending a  tool from SimpleTuition, an aggregator of private student...

June 23, 2011

This is the time of year when colleges start sending their bills out to new and returning students. And that’s why this is also the time of year when parents and students begin inquiring about college loans. This is as good a time as any then  to answer some questions about Stafford Loans, which are the most popular federal college...

June 17, 2011

I read something crazy this week about how young Americans feel about all their credit card balances and the student debt they’ve racked up. Apparently, the majority of them feel “empowered” by all that money they owe lenders. The average student loan borrower, who graduates from college, owes $23,000 or $24,000. And the typical graduating senior with one credit card...