My family and I recently attended our high schooler's open house. Even though I've attended many open houses in the past, I felt a bit overwhelmed. The cafeteria was quite crowded, with families going in all directions. Several booths were set up, and mobs of people were waiting to talk to someone at every booth. Some of the stations to visit were: Counselors PTA Sign Up Sports Passes Cafeteria Accounts STEM Academy Registration I have to say, though, that I breathed a huge sigh of relief when...

It’s hard to believe that summer break will soon come to an end for most families. As the start of a new school year gets closer, we wonder where the time went and think about all the things we wanted to do over the summer. If you follow my posts, you know I talked about how summertime is the perfect time to work on post-high school planning.  Maybe you had the best intentions this summer: tour college campuses, write the application essay, research career options, and so on. But as always,...

My younger son recently got his drivers license. When we go out, he always asks, "Can I drive?" He is eager to be on his own, and it’s no secret that he is a planner. He already has plans A, B, and C for his future, which includes college. And he is confident in the career he wants to pursue. On the other hand, my older son is very different. He graduated from high school and went into the Marine reserves. We knew forcing him to go to college would not have been good for him. He decided to...

I was recently interviewed for a TV show. One of the questions the interviewer asked was, “What is the one thing you want to get across on this show? What do you want parents to know?” My answer was that college debt is unnecessary and easily avoided. The answer is right in front of us. We just need to do it.  What is the answer that is right in front of us?  We parents need to teach our teens how to:  Find their first career steps that match their natural interests and behaviors Analyze the...

Choosing which colleges to apply to depends upon two factors. You want to find a school that is the right fit and at the right price. The good news is that there are over 5,000 colleges and universities in the US from which your teen can choose. The bad news is that there are over 5,000 schools from which your teen can choose. How do you narrow it down? If you are like me, you get overwhelmed just picking out a wall color when there are so many different shades of gray. The thought of helping...

I received an email from a father whose son is in college and has already changed his major three times and is in his fifth year of college. Yet the son still hasn’t found the right major. The father is lost on how to help his son and needs some guidance.  The impact of changing majors is much bigger now than when we went to school. I changed my major in college and still graduated in four years. That’s not the case not now.  Recent research shows that college students change their major up to...

If you follow my posts, you know that the higher education industry is a big business. Colleges are not-for-profit, but that doesn’t mean they can’t make one. It simply means they don’t have shareholders to whom they report their profits.  Did you know in Germany, education is free? In the UK, higher education pricing is capped at $12,000, including schools like Oxford and Cambridge. In the United States, colleges do not have price control, and the prices just keep climbing. College costs,...