2010

  • Encourage Your Student to Create an Advisor Connection
    August 11, 2010

    For at least 18 years, you have probably considered yourself to be your student’s principal advisor.  You have been there every step of the way, literally from the first steps taken, and then on to the first words spoken, the first tests taken, and the first degrees granted.  You probably didn’t have any “training” to be a parent, but somehow you figured it out.

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  • College Orientations: Preparing Students for Success
    August 5, 2010

    College orientations vary in style and substance from college to college, but most have an overriding goal in mind: to prepare your student for success.

    That is something to keep in mind throughout the college years. Colleges and universities really want your student to have a fulfilling higher education experience, and to graduate on time.

    Orientations are when your family’s relationship with your chosen institution starts, and so it is important for both sides in the new relationship to take this event seriously and to try to learn as much from it as possible.

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  • In Defense of Helicopter Parents
    July 28, 2010

    College Parents of America (CPA) often finds itself in the position of defending parents and our behavior in support of our college-aged, or soon to be college-aged, children.

    Let’s be honest, some small percentage of us may go over the edge and try to do too much in support of, or on behalf of, our kids. Examples of this behavior are filling out the college application itself or writing an application essay in the pre-college years, or calling a professor about a grade or e-mailing a residence hall advisor to settle a roommate dispute during the in-college years.

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  • How College Works
    July 21, 2010

    How does college work? Or put another way, how do colleges work and how can you and your student learn to adjust to their practices and achieve success?

    Ultimately, of course, it is up to your student to find his/her way in the world. And his/her first step to a new world usually starts with college.

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  • Scholarship Program Launched in Honor of Doug Laughlin
    July 14, 2010

    I’m very pleased to devote my column today to the launch of the Doug and Grace Laughlin Family Scholarships, a new dual scholarship program named in honor of our organization’s founder. The scholarships are intended to assist first-generation college students and exceptional student leaders to meet the rising cost of a college education.

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  • 25 Reasons to Celebrate Education Across America
    June 30, 2010

    My travels with College Parents of America haven’t yet brought me to all fifty states, but I’ve had the pleasure of communicating with each of you – who are scattered among all of our states – and of learning the idiosyncrasies related to education in each of your locales. There is much to improve, of course, but also much to celebrate.

    And what better time than the 4th of July to share with you 25 reasons to celebrate education across America?

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  • Knight Commission Report Deserves Parent Support
    June 22, 2010

    Last week saw non-stop coverage of the Gulf Oil Spill on news channels, and had the World Cup and U.S. Open dominating the sports world.  Amidst that crowded backdrop, a significant Knight Commission report on the future of sports and higher education received scant attention.  The report deserves a closer look and, in my view, our support.

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  • The Research Behind Our Tuition Insurance Offer
    June 17, 2010

    In my most recent column, published on May 26, I made the case for the purchase of tuition insurance, which thanks to our partnership with GradGuard, a service of Next Generation Insurance, Inc., is now available as an embedded benefit in College Parents of America membership.

    In that column, I touched on the research our organization did as we put together this benefit and I would like to review more of our analysis with you today.

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  • The Case for Tuition Insurance
    May 26, 2010

    Everyone knows that college is expensive. Yet very few people know that the cost of college can be insured.

    The high cost of college has been building for decades. Withering subsidies at the state level are causing public universities to raise the sticker prices they charge students. Private colleges are also charging more, as their endowment funds still reel from the 2008 financial meltdown and continuing market uncertainty.

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  • Financial Capability Critical to Higher Ed Success
    May 21, 2010

    Teaching young people — and their parents — how to better save and spend their money is a critical component to increasing college-going rates in the U.S., warned a panel of experts who spoke this week at the National Association of State Treasurers meeting in Salt Lake City.

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