It’s not a news flash to share with you that the American economy is still a bit in shambles after the financial meltdown of 14 months ago.  While some indicators are showing signs of economic life, others are lagging, especially when it comes to jobs.  Well, here’s a glimmer of good news that you can share with your college student, especially one who may be telling you it’s not that important that he or she gets that degree.  As you know, unemployment is now at 10.2% nationally, and in some states much, much worse.  For college graduates, however, the unemployment rate is half that, at 4.7%, as compared to 11.2% for those with only a high school degree.  Simply put, it is the law of supply and demand.  There is a relatively scarce supply of college graduates and strong demand for college graduates in fields such as health care and information technology.  It is still not a pretty picture, that’s for sure, but it could be a lot worse for a young person who is not working on a path toward attaining a college degree.  Are you encouraging the students in your family to complete college?  What are some of your winning arguments?  Please share them with your fellow parents on Hoverings: A Blog for Current and Future College Parents.  Add your comment to our conversation.

What other entity in America says to its potential customers, “Please fill out this form to show how much you have the ability to pay and then we will decide how much to charge you”?  That, in short, is the bizarre world of college pricing.  What do you think about the ways that colleges decide to set their prices?  Is there some better way out there to make college more affordable and accessible to a greater number of students?  Tell us about it.

The “temporary” tax deduction for tuition and other related college expenses is again at risk, being set to expire on December 31, 2009 unless Congress acts.  At College Parents of America, we would like to see this deduction made a permanent part of the IRS code.  We also support raising the deduction to $12,500 and eliminating the current income ceiling on the deduction’s availability.  What do you think?  Are there other changes to the tax code that you would like Congress or state legislatures to enact?  Please share your thoughts below and also please forward our URL, www.collegeparents.org, to other parents of current or future college parents.  Banding together can give us greater clout, in Washington, DC and in our 50 state capitals.  Thank you for your interest in College Parents of America.