If we as parents decide that accountability in higher education means what it has for the past twenty years, then we have only ourselves to blame if costs continue to go up, if graduation rates remain spotty and if the meaning of an undergraduate degree starts to become marginalized in the career marketplace.

But if we as a group decide that accountability in higher education means that school finance offices must account for every dollar spent, that school academic affairs offices must explain every course taken and that school career planning offices must justify the return on investment of coursework and degree-granting programs, then we may have ourselves to thank for creating an atmosphere where the education our kids receive is as grounded in the real world as it is eye-opening to new worlds.

As a parent of a future or current college student, your views on accountability in Higher Ed are even more important as mine. Please share what you think accountability should mean in higher education will all of us by leaving a comment below.

College Parents of America welcomes your suggestions on ways that colleges can do more to educate your children, but take less out of everybody’s wallet in the process.  Please share your thoughts on how colleges can cut costs in order to better hold down the prices they charge families.  Your fellow parents will learn and benefit from your suggestions.

Health and safety concerns are occupying more and more mindshare among parents of college students, and billing issues at college health centers can sometimes cause a financial aftershock for parents worse than the medical condition that prompted the student’s visit in the first place. Please share with fellow parents your experience with college health centers, both with the treatment provided to your child and with the billing procedure used to collect funds from you or your insurance provider.

Please leave a comment below and share with all of us what you see as the most important education-related nugget in your state, whether it is simply your impression or a “factoid” that you want to publish for your peers. 

Please share your child’s student aid success story so that your fellow parents can benefit and learn from your family’s experience. Just click here to leave a comment and tell your peers how federal student aid, including loans, makes your child’s college education possible.