The mission of College Parents of America is to empower parents to best support their children on the path to and through college. Those of you who are today’s current or future college parents may have had parents of your own who were very supportive of your academic dreams and endeavors. In honor of Father’s Day, this is your chance to pay tribute to the Dad who may have helped you along the way, whether through a word of encouragement, a passing of sage advice or an unsolicited check in the mail. We’ll give equal space to Moms real soon, but meanwhile, please share your Father’s Day College Parent Tributes by leaving a comment below.

James A. Boyle, president of College Parents of America, recently testified at a congressional hearing entitled, “Paying for a College Education: Barriers and Solutions for Students and Families.” Mr. Boyle shared with members of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness many of the financial barriers that you must hurdle as a current or future parent.

Please leave a comment below and share the challenges you face in meeting the high cost of college.

Last week’s survey on current college parent experiences and this week’s survey on future college parent expectations both point out a desire by parents to be involved in and supportive of their children’s college education. You are concerned about academics, finances and the health and safety of your children, among many other issues. You are also asked - or in the case of future college parents expect to be asked - for advice and assistance in the areas listed above, as well as increasingly in the area of career planning. We believe that parental involvement, properly channeled, can be extremely empowering to your children as they embark on a journey to and through college. Please share your story of how parental involvement can lead to student success. The level of involvement described can be as simple as a meaningful conversation or as elaborate as your family’s working encourage college and career success. Thank you for sharing your story and please forward to a friend so that more families may benefit from our parent community dialogue.

All of us who are parents of current and future college students have no doubt experienced the looks of shock and peals of laughter from our children when we tell them stories of communications’ life before the Internet. My own sons find my tales of typing term papers with white-out at the ready to be quite amusing, almost as funny as the “party line” telephone that our family shared with neighbors when I was a kid. Please share some of your humorous “pre-Internet stories,” and give your parent peers a chance to share in a good laugh. Whether it’s a story that really makes your children chuckle, or something that only we as parents could appreciate, please tell us now. Hoverings: A Blog for Current and Future College Parents has covered some pretty serious topics and its time to have some fun.

Step out and think big. Emerge from behind your parent shield and propose your ideas on what can be done to build a brighter future for all of America’s children. If you think it takes a government to raise an educated child, then share your views of what government at every level can do. Or, if you believe that private sector initiatives are the way to go, then suggest what parents, non-profit organizations, local businesses, mid-size companies and Fortune 500 corporations can contribute in the form of products, services, people or dollars. The sky is the limit, so dream impossible dreams as America might need them to fight our foes of widening economic disparity and creeping social polarization. Click here to leave a comment and Share Your Thoughts on Building a Brighter Future for America’s Children. Thank you and please forward this page to a friend.