First-Year College Parent

In her book The College Solution, top personal finance journalist Lynn O’Shaughnessy presents an easy-to-use roadmap to finding the right college program (not just the most hyped) and dramatically reducing the cost of college, too.

Now that you’ve said good-bye to your college student, how can you ensure they will properly handle the academic adjustment to college?

While they were in high school, you were able to help remind them of deadlines, review their homework and even assist them with studying if needed. Now, your student will be in charge of managing their own time. Obviously, they have shown some level of responsibility or else they would not have to gotten to this point. As each year of college is completed, new challenges and responsibilities will introduce themselves.

Specific types of collegiate adjustment involve changes in academic and social demands.

One of the most emotional moments in the life of a family takes shape in households across the country in late summer to early fall: the time when college-bound students begin to leave home.

What does this mean for the parents who remain behind? The home is suddenly empty of the life that filled it now that their teen departed for school and begins the transition to adulthood.

How can you help your student handle this huge transition and prepare them to be successful when they’re so far away?

This article explores the complicated feelings of saying good-bye, while also providing you, the parent, tips on how to help your student be successful in the first chapter of their adult life.

As students prepare to begin or return to college, making sure they have everything they need to be successful can be challenging.

But now as you wipe the sweat from your brow and pat yourself on the back—your child is going to college! Then it dawns on you - What should they bring with them? Where should you shop? What do they need? What don't they need?

Relax. While packing your student for college may feel like an overwhelming task, it doesn't have to be. In fact, you might even have some fun with it.

We’ve compiled the Ultimate Packing Lists for residence hall life, classroom and studying needs and personal items they should bring along too - so that you can get your student off to school and ready to learn! Read more for tips and tricks to ease the headache of the big move.

• Residence Hall Packing List
• What your student should have for Classroom and Studying
• Personal Items to pack for college

Charlotte, NC – April 18, 2008 - Since publishing “A New Beginning: A Survival Guide for Parents of College Freshmen” in 1998, author Kaye Bernard McGarry, M.Ed. has taken her message on the road speaking to parents about how they can successfully assist their child’s transition between living at home and moving into college life. In her third edition, McGarry has updated and clarified subject matter and added a new Q&A section which includes some of parents most asked questions. One question she gets frequently is what is most stressful for college freshmen. From her many interviews with students, the answer to that question can be ‘everything’. “Parents can help by keeping the communication lines open, be that listening ear, ask questions in a non-judgmental way, and praise them freely,” McGarry said.

We’ve discussed whether or not parents should help grown kids with expenses like credit card debt, and even whether it’s appropriate for parents to foot the bill for a big wedding, but what about health insurance?

Your “soon to be” college freshman belongs to a generation now referred to as “millenial.” Even if you happen to be one of the lucky ones who has had a virtually stress free parenting experience, you might want to buckle your seat belt. This could get bumpy. Anticipate phone calls reporting, “I’m out of toilet paper…” their tone will assume you may want to do something about this. You won’t be alone.

As baby boomers prepare to watch the last of their children leave the nest, recent research has shed some light on possible ways to manage this transition in a healthy, positive manner. To begin this transformation on the right foot, there are a few foundational precepts you should keep in mind:

Used to be that parents packed up the station wagon, drove their son or daughter to college, unloaded the boxes, made the bed, shed a few tears and headed home. Today, colleges cater to parents with lengthy orientation programs.
Whether this relatively new phenomenon is a response to "helicopter parent" hovering or not, more information and services seem to be exactly what parents are craving.

For the full article please go to:
http://www.bnd.com/living/health/story/357834.html

More and more employers are falling victim to the 'helicopter parenting' phenomenon. How can HR make the best of family ties? Virginia Matthews reports.

Read More

College administrators say they have noticed an emerging trend over the past couple years – overly involved parents who remain highly influential in their children’s lives, from class selection, to their social life to their problems at school.

Early reports on the phenomenon, dubbed “helicopter parents,” suggested the behavior had mostly negative consequences, mostly keeping young adults from learning to solve problems on their own and taking responsibility.

San Francisco Chronicle, B3
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Carrie Sturrock, Chronicle Staff Writer

American undergraduate education needs to change if college students are going to learn more than just practical skills for chosen careers, according to a report by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

If the United States wants highly educated people who understand how to engage in their communities and act responsibly in the world, the undergraduate curriculum must do more than teach them how to carry out a profession competently, conclude authors of "A New Agenda for Higher Education: Shaping a Life of the Mind for Practice."

Colleges Restrain Spending: Blame rests with State Lawmakers Who Squeeze Education Funding
By Daniel J. Hurley

It's that time of year when newspaper headlines across the USA announce the latest tuition increases at the local public college or university for this coming fall semester — increases that could well be in the high single digits and, in some cases, double digits.

The steady stream of tuition increases raises the question: Can't colleges rein in their spending?

By Prashant Gopal Fri Mar 14, 8:08 AM ET

A year ago, Jeff Shea began buying up rental properties around the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, from which he had only recently graduated with a business major. Shea, 23, who lives in Chicago, owns three rental homes near campus, including a four-bedroom house he bought for $138,000 and rents to four students for $1,800 a month.

"It's the best time ever to buy houses," Shea said. "The rent is inflated because so many people go to school here."

Ritter signs textbook bill: Measure aims at making book bills more affordable

By Brittany Anas
Originally published 12:23 p.m., April 8, 2008 - Dailycamera.com

Gov. Bill Ritter signed a bill into law today that requires publishers to be more upfront about the costs of college textbooks — a measure that proponents say will help keep the skyrocketing prices in check.

Many college students still rely on their parents for financial support throughout most of their college years. It used to be a bit more difficult in past years to “share” money but in today’s society there is many more option for making money available to far-away college students. One of the more common ways for parents to ensure students have access to funds is by establishing a joint bank account, either checking or savings, where both the student and the parent can make deposits and withdrawals conveniently.

The pressure on parents and their children alike to choose the right college is as fervent as ever before. The competition has turned global and it’s imperative to make sure you’re ready to make the right decision. Subsequently, the costs of tuition have skyrocketed. In an uncertain economy it’s crucial you are prepared for the impending expenses associated with your child’s higher education in this country. Here a few ways you can be prepared:

READY TO CHARGE?

By Tom Hartwell, The Vicksburg Post

[03/26/08]

Some teens prepared to use plastic, some not

Felicia Jacobson said alarm bells rang when a student came into her office one day elated: she had just gotten a credit card.

"She said, 'Ms. Jacobson, Ms. Jacobson! Guess what?'"

Jacobson, director of Vicksburg High School's career center, said she was troubled to learn the student celebrated getting her new credit card by going on a small spending spree with her boyfriend.

Credit woes put student loans in jeopardy
By Lisa Sandberg
Houston Chronicle, Austin Bureau

AUSTIN — The nation's credit crunch is taking a toll on a sector of the population that tends to be unemployed and untested when it comes to repaying debt: college students.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5648864.html

Students Urged To Know Their Rights
By:Karen Forman
03/26/2008

When it comes to getting a college loan, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking to make sure high school students know their rights. In order to bring attention to the Student Bill of Rights, Cuomo's staff members have been traveling around the state to educate area high school teenagers about the ins and outs of student loans, making a stop in Suffolk on March 18 to meet with Longwood High School students.

Read more: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19424619&BRD=1776&PAG=461&dept_id=6363&rfi=6