The College Solutions Blog

August 7, 2013

Any day now President Obama is going to sign legislation that will at least temporarily lower the interest rates on federal student loans. This might sound like a welcome development, but it isn’t because the federal government will be continuing to make huge profits off parents and students who borrow. The legislation could eventually make the financial pain worse for...

August 5, 2013

I thought I’d devote the next couple of blog posts to bringing you up to date on what’s been happening in Congress with federal student loans. Chances are that you haven’t been keeping up with the latest student-loan developments on Capitol Hill, but a lot happened in July. And, as far as I’m concerned, Congress blew it. Before I get...

July 31, 2013

When you are researching colleges, here is another question to ask: are the professors hard graders? Do any of the schools on your child’s list favor the anti-grading inflation policies of Princeton University? Or is your child looking at schools that are more like Brown University which has the reputation of giving out easy “A’s.” The grading policies are especially...

July 29, 2013

Today I’m sharing with you a guest blog from Michelle Kretzschmar, my friend and the creator of Do It Yourself College Rankings. Michelle and I are busy developing an online class for parents that is focused on shrinking college costs.We hope to roll out the course in the fall. Lynn O’Shaughnessy As the cost of attending some the nation’s colleges...

July 26, 2013

We’ve been talking about engineering schools in a couple of recent posts, which is why I wanted to share an engineering list that my friend Michelle Kretzschmar at Do It Yourself College Rankings recently put together for her website. Michelle, who is a data whiz, pulled together a list of universities that educate the largest number of engineer students where...

July 24, 2013

I heard this week from a father from Southern California whose son will soon be starting his sophomore year at American University in Washington DC. He has a daughter who is also interested in attending college on the East Coast. Here is part of his email: My son loves AU which fits his interest in politics and government, but as...

July 22, 2013

During the last two posts, we’ve been exploring possible academic choices for a future valedictorian from North Carolina. If you missed them and the more than two dozen comments that the posts triggered, here they are:  Where Should This Teen Attend College? Where Should This Teen Attend College? Part II Some of the parents who shared their thoughts mentioned 3-2...

July 18, 2013

I was delighted with all the insightful comments that parents sent me this week after they read my last blog post entitled: Where Should This Teen Attend College? I’d urge you to read the post about a high-achieving, future valedictorian from North Carolina, who wants to attend the University of Virginia and has other elite public and private schools on...

July 16, 2013

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from parents this month and I’ll share some of them with you in posts this summer. I’m starting with an email from a mom from North Carolina whose son has his heart set on the sort of schools that top students tend to dream about. If you have some suggestions for this teenager,...

July 12, 2013

I wrote this post on Friday, but since then I’ve gotten some more suggestions to add to the list of liberal arts colleges in or near cities including Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.  A Trinity alum provided some fascinating history about schools that technically should no longer be considered liberal arts colleges, such as the University of Richmond, but...