The College Solutions Blog

October 4, 2011

A website that focuses on college issues recently asked me a few questions that parents and teenagers commonly ask or wonder about. I decided to share the questions and my answers with you today. Here goes: At what stage should you prepare for college? Teenagers can start preparing for college at the beginning of high school — really before that...

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...

October 31, 2010

College costs continue to rise (surprise, surprise), according to the latest statistics released by the College Board. The news is depressing, but not as awful as you might assume. As I’ve discussed in previous college blog posts, roughly two-thirds of college students receive scholarships or other price breaks so the sticker prices are meaningless. 2010-2011 College Tuition Prices Type of...

October 4, 2010

Should parents help pay for college? For a lot of people who visit my college blog this is going to seem like a no brainer. There are, however, parents who are determined to foist the whole cost of college onto their kids. I can certainly understand why a mom or dad, who makes little money, couldn’t help. But you can...

July 6, 2010

For three million students, the angst about getting into college had disappeared. That’s roughly the number of freshmen who will be attending college in the fall. The final grades are in, the college admission decisions are made. Freshmen face the prospects of locating extra-long sheets, discovering the name of their dorm roommate, attending freshmen orientation and counting down the days...

January 11, 2009

My son’s principal holds a breakfast chat with parents each month and at the last one, Brett mentioned that he is always amazed at how few students at the end of each semester ask teachers how they might improve their grades. It should be a no brainer, Brett suggested, for students to ask their teachers if they can do extra...

July 11, 2008

One way to shrink the cost of college is to never show up. A story in The New York Times today reports that an increasing number of college students are taking online classes because of the high price of gasoline. With at least 79% of college students living off campus, the exploding price of gas can gut budgets. There obviously...