The College Solutions Blog

November 22, 2009

Students at campuses across the University of California system rioted last week after the Board of Regents voted to increase undergraduate tuition by 32% next year. You can see video of the fee hike protest at UCLA here. I want to play devil’s advocate and suggest that tuition hikes at UCLA and the other UC campuses is a good thing....

November 20, 2009

Most families do not pay the sticker price for college.  In fact, most parents pay far below the published tuition. About two out of three full-time college students receive grants, otherwise known as scholarships, to attend school. If you just look at private institutions, the number who receive college scholarships is a whopping 80%. I obtained those figures by reading...

November 12, 2009

Today I want to share with you a great new web site that can help you research colleges:  College Insight. College Insight has gathered detailed information on nearly 5,000 colleges and universities in this country. You can find statistics for any school on such topics as these: College affordability. Check out statistics on tuition and total cost of attendance, average...

November 9, 2009

Do transfer students do well in college? I hear this question a lot from parents who are stressed about the high cost  of a bachelor’s degree. They naturally wonder if starting at a cheaper community college and then transferring is a smart move. The transfer student question is also relevant for teenagers who begin at four-year universities and then end...

November 6, 2009

The odds of getting into UC Berkeley are shrinking even more. The odds of getting into UC Berkeley were never high. According to the College Board’s latest figures, Cal Berkeley’s acceptance rate is 22%. Expect that to get even worse. UC Berkeley is going to become even more impregnable for California high school seniors. Next year, UC Berkeley expects to...

November 2, 2009

Will some of the nation’s top flagship universities turn private? This question isn’t as wacky as it sounds. Some flagships, including the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia, have explored the idea of becoming private universities. Sure it would be shocking if state universities ditched their public mandates to serve as educational beacons for their own residents, both...

October 25, 2009

As usual, I am sharing with you the posts that I wrote for my college blog for CBSMoneyWatch.com during the past week. Baby Einstein Bust: Toys That Will Make Your Child Smarter. Did parents really think that plunking their infants in front of Baby Einstein DVDs was really going to make them geniuses. Come on. Surely they knew Baby Einstein...

October 19, 2009

I subscribe to a list serve that is popular with high school and independent college counselors. I’m always amused when a counselor posts a plea for help in assembling a list of great colleges and universities for students who often possess eclectic taste. I’ve seen requests like this:  I am helping a student, who is interested in architectural engineering and...

October 14, 2009

Yesterday, my son Ben and I spent a lovely day at Beloit College. An admissions officer applauded Ben for making the long trek from San Diego to Wisconsin to visit the college. She mentioned that some students never visit the campus before applying to the liberal arts school. I’ve always thought it was strange that teenagers apply to colleges without...

October 10, 2009

Every Saturday I share the college blog posts that I wrote for the week for CBSMoneyWatch. As usual, this was an eclectic bunch. Are Elite Universities Discriminating Against Asians The post that I found most fascinating was about a book — soon to be released — that examined the admission practices of seven elite (unnamed) universities. The author, who is...