Completing

Alcohol Talking Points for Families

What Tuition Insurance Covers

What Parent Need to Know about FERPA

At College Parents of America, we strive to provide valuable resource information to our members, as well as vigorous advocacy.While many of my recent columns have centered around some of the key advocacy issues that we are focusing on – to serve you – here in Washington, DC, we also work to benefit you with resource information that hits home wherever you live.One of those key resource areas involves the question of academic preparation for college, not just what it takes to get in to school, but what it takes to succeed.

There is a good chance that at some point in your student’s college career he will have the opportunity to take an online class.  The question is, should he?   There are many appeals to online classes – especially convenience.  Students can complete their entire class without having to go to a classroom or sit through a lecture, and very often, students can complete the work at their own pace and at whatever time of the day or night is convenient.

Did you know that it is possible for students to get college credit for what they already know by taking a CLEP exam?

Presidents of colleges and universities love to talk.They love to talk about the schools they lead, and why they are great. They love to talk about problems facing America and the world, and how U.S. higher education is producing the next generation of leaders to solve those problems. And they love to talk about the federal government, and how it is not spending enough money in support of colleges and universities.Actually, college presidents love to talk most of the time. When it comes to certain subjects, they grow quiet.

Not only should all colleges and universities - public and private - be financially accountable, they should also be to prove that accountability and to demonstrate it to all of their constituencies, including their parents.Several groups specializing in academic finances are advising higher-ed institutions to adopt provisions that mirror those targeted at publicly traded corporations in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the federal law that was designed to better police corporate governance.

We've all seen the bumper stickers. "My child is honor student at fill-in-the-blank middle school."Some of you may have even had the chance to slap one of those bumper stickers on your own car fender.When it comes to honors in high school and college, however, the bumper stickers get fewer and the standards get stricter.College Parents of America thought you would find it useful to learn more about college honor societies and how you – and your child – can judge their credibility.

The school year is now at least a few weeks old for the vast majority of colleges across the country, though some on the quarter system may just be getting started this week or next.If your child is still in secondary school, you've probably remarked to each other how difficult it is, with today's busy lifestyles, for him or her to actually find time to study.But study time is critical, and it gets even more important when the young adults in your household go off to college.

Teens who identify at least one influential, "natural" mentor in their life - a person not assigned by a formal mentoring program - report that they have a higher sense of self and are more likely to take risks that affect their lives positively, according to data recently released by SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and Liberty Mutual.

To paraphrase Charles Dickens, it is the best of times and it is the worst of times for American higher education.A college education is more widely available than at any time in our nation's history, with well more than two-thirds of high school graduates attending college in the year following high school, and more than 80 percent beginning their higher education within a few years.

by Alexandra Levit

Since September 2003, with your support, I have been steering College Parents of America's advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C., supporting legislation and rule-making that reduces the complexity of the education planning process and makes college more affordable for families. If your family members, friends and neighbors can be convinced to join you as a member of our organization, then our advocacy efforts can become even more effective, as they will be "on behalf of" an even greater number of people.

He is the son of a shipyard worker. He will be a first-generation college student from a hard-working family in an old industrial town. He dreams of becoming a lawyer and, someday, serving in Congress. He is, in short, the American dream.

At College Parents of America, one of our goals is to encourage colleges and universities to develop strong programs in support of the current parents at their institutions. Many of you have asked me over the past 14 months what the hallmarks are of such a program. Following is my take on the "Top Ten" attributes of a supportive parent program:

With football season in full gear, I thought it would be helpful to give you today’s starting lineup of federal student aid programs. No matter what your budget resources, or where your child is in the process of preparing for, applying to or attending college, these are the eleven federal programs (eight undergraduate and three graduate) of which you should be aware. It’s time for the first snap!

It’s not exactly a newsflash that one of the many ways that U.S.-based businesses are gaining productivity – and saving money – is through outsourcing of certain functions. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some colleges and universities, in searching for ways to keep their own expenses down, are also looking to outsource. […]

Our recent online surveys of current and future college parents confirm what we suspected: the majority of our members and supporters at College Parents of America are women, especially among those of you who are actively engaged in our group.As you might have guessed from my name, I am not.But I am lucky to have a marvelous Mom, and a wonderful wife who is a great Mom to our two sons, so I thought it appropriate to write a Mother’s Tribute, to all of you out there who are struggling to do your best to support your children on the path to and through college.

At College Parents of America, we strive to provide valuable resource information to our members, as well as vigorous advocacy. While many of my recent columns have centered around some of the key advocacy issues that we are focusing on – to serve you – here in Washington, DC, we also work to benefit you […]