The College Solutions Blog

April 15, 2010

Here’s a grim college graduation rate statistic:  Fewer than 60% of college students graduate in six years. Of course, noncompetitive schools, which accept nearly all comers, drag down the national graduation rates. For instance, only 12.1% of students at Mountain State University in Beckley, WV, which accepts all its applicants, graduate in six years. In contrast, 96.8% of Harvard students...

March 29, 2010

College visit. Yes, it’s that time of year  when high school seniors and juniors are planning college visits during spring break. You can learn a lot during a college visit so you need to make the most of the opportunity. During a campus visit, here are 31 questions that you should ask: College Graduation Track Record What is your four-year...

March 19, 2010

With March Madness in full swing, I want to pose this question: Should schools be allowed a spot in the NCAA basketball brackets if they can’t manage to graduate their basketball players? I think it’s only fair to bar these basketball teams from participating in March Madness and, more importantly, so does Arne Duncan, a former Harvard basketball player, who...

January 11, 2010

Want to research colleges, but not sure where to start? It’s no surprise. When I just typed “college” into Google, I got 634 million college websites. To make your job easier, I’m sharing wonderful websites that can help you assemble a great list of colleges. If you want to research specific colleges, here are my Top 10  College Websites: College...

September 7, 2009

In the last few days, I’ve been working on an assignment about college rankings — when it’s published I’ll be sure to link to the article. Today, however, I thought I’d provide links to some helpful college lists courtesy of US News & World Report. Colleges Giving the Most Merit Scholarships One question that I get asked frequently is which...

September 1, 2009

As I mentioned yesterday, most teenagers don’t know how to truly evaluate colleges and universities. Finding the right academic fit, however, is crucial, which is why this week I’m going to be sharing my favorite tools to research colleges. Today I’m focusing on CollegeResults.org. CollegeResults.org, which you’ll find on the Education Trust’s website, provides the four-, five- and six-year graduation...

August 31, 2009

Despite all the hype about Ivy League schools and other elite private colleges, most teenagers end up attending public universities in their own states. Too many teenagers, however, pick state schools on a whim. I rarely find teens who ask meaningful questions and instead they select schools for these sorts of lame reasons: I love the football team. It’s my...

August 14, 2009

Every weekend, I like to share the most recent college posts that I wrote for CBSMoneyWatch.com. The post that generated the most traffic — and great placement on CBSMoneyWatch.com — focused on a young woman, who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in just two years.Even for a bright student that’s quite a feat. As I mention in the...

June 18, 2009

I know a bunch of parents who expect their teenagers to graduate from college in four years. Many of them are dreaming. Forty percent of  students can’t even graduate from college in six years! Colleges and universities often blame students for this dismal record. But if it’s the kids who are slackers, how come schools with similar academic profiles experience...

March 13, 2009

A double major in college seems like a no brainer to many students today, who want to capture a competitive advantage in the work world. Some academics, however, argue that double majoring doesn’t necessarily provide that edge. Even worse, double majoring keeps many students from graduating on time. The double major issue came up when I was talking to a...