College Preparation

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 […]

Dear Parents:When your children leave home for college, they will face a host of new experiences and responsibilities. As a parent, you recognize that now they will be "on their own" to tackle life's basic functions - at the same time that they are adjusting to a new environment and new freedoms. To help your student in this transition, he/she should know the "financial facts of life" before opening that first checking account or making that first purchase on credit.

Top 5 Things You Should Know Before Getting An Education Major There are so many different types of fields that you can major in. Some fields aren’t too popular, while others will be booming for some time then die out, and then there are some that are always needed and are consistent. One of the […]

College is a time where young adults go off into the “real world” and begin to become adults. There are many skills that we assume these young adults have, but they may not know how to apply them in their own environment. These skills may seem obvious to us, but in order to set our […]

Gearing Up for the Road Ahead As you take steps towards college, work, consider what you value and design a process with few steps on how to get there. It is best to be ready for failures, for rejections, and to keep moving forward. In order to find the programs that will benefit you and […]

William Stixrud and Ned Johnson, are the authors of “The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives and report in their New York Times article that "thirty percent of freshmen won’t return for their sophomore year, and the wheels can start to fall off as early as Thanksgiving." They suggest that what your college student needs most is practice running his or her own life — and college is a risky place to do that for the first time."

A recent story by National Public Radio brought attention to the enormous value high school counselors provide within our schools and to our students and families.

Whether you're planning a campus visit or arranging your student's international travel for break, it's important to keep in mind how the time of year could affect your plans. There are, of course, non-negotiable travel dates, such as the beginning and end of a semester, or holiday weekends. However, when possible, you should aim to plan around the most and least popular travel times of the year to reduce your costs and stress.

At College Parents of America, we: