All posts by Suzanne Shaffer

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5 Things Military Parents Should Know Before Sending Kids to College

 

military dependent
Image by “Picture Youth” from Flickr Creative Commons.

Being a service member or spouse of a service member with growing children is extremely difficult, particularly when it comes to preparing your kids for college. Military parents face the challenge of nurturing their children’s intellectual growth and preparing them for higher education while coping with deployments and frequent relocation. Fortunately, there are ways military parents can successfully prepare their children for college. Here are five things military parents should know as they assist their kids in making this transition.

Military Dependents Are Eligible for College Funding

With all of the challenges that come with being in a military family, eliminating tuition costs from your list of concerns will be tremendously helpful. There are many options available for military dependents seeking college funding. For example, military dependents may receive college tuition assistance through the Survivors & Dependents Educational Assistance (DEA) program. This benefit goes beyond providing tuition assistance by offering financial support for on-the-job training, certification programs and apprenticeships. This benefit is available for military dependents of veterans who have died or have been rated as permanently and totally disabled as a result of a service-connected disability.

Those who are not eligible for DEA may still get help for their college tuition costs through the Post 9/11 GI Bill transfer program. Veterans who are eligible for benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill may choose to transfer part or all of their educational benefits to their children.

How to Spot a Military-Friendly College

While there are many benefits available to assist your child with tuition costs, not all colleges participate in these programs. Look for institutions that support programs such as the Post 9/11 GI Bill and understand the unique needs of military dependents on campus. A military-friendly institution is also one that will offer flexibility with regard to college classes by providing opportunities for evening and online courses. For many military dependents, frequent relocation does not end after high school graduation. Many children of service members wish to remain in close proximity to their parents while they transition into college life. Finding a school with a solid online program is a great way to support this decision. Many colleges also offer tuition discounts for military dependents, simply for having a parent who is a veteran or service member. These are the kinds of colleges that will not only support your child financially, but will also have a basic understanding of the unique transitional needs that exist for military dependents.

The Value of School Guidance Counselors

Being in a military family often means that life gets hectic, and getting the help of a school guidance counselor for your child’s academic needs can be extremely helpful. When kids in military families transfer to various schools, it can be difficult to keep track of all of the courses that are still needed in order to graduate. Guidance counselors have the inside scoop on important factors such as credit transfers, and can help identify college prep courses that will give your child a jump start. Counselors can also help identify any mental health concerns your child might have. Research indicates that military dependents may be at an increased risk for certain mental disorders, and intervening early is the best way to meet your child’s mental and cognitive needs.

The Impact of Military Life on Academics

New and valuable research continues to explore the influence military life has on children of service members. The results of these studies show that some children actually gain useful qualities such as resilience and open-mindedness as a result of living in a military family.  Skills such as these are undoubtedly useful in the college setting and will be beneficial to your child through school and beyond.

Other research, however, indicates that the stresses of deployment and relocation can inhibit your child’s cognitive and academic abilities. For example, a study by the Rand Corporation reveals that frequent moves can sometimes lead to social and academic disengagement. By being aware of the risks your children face in these areas, you can better prepare them for academic success in college.

Saving for College Early

Even with the college benefits available to military dependents, you may find that your child has additional tuition costs. The best way to prepare for these expenses is to start saving early. Consider setting up a monthly automatic transfer into a college fund. Another great way to save is to put any unexpected sources of income into a college account. Transferring money from tax refunds or bonuses is a helpful way to save without experiencing a financial burden. Encourage your child to participate in this process by contributing money from an allowance or part-time job.

Sending a child to college is difficult for all parents, but military families can face additional obstacles. Consider these five tips as you work to make your child’s transition from home to college a smooth and successful endeavor.

websites

Getting the Best Bang for Your College Buck

 

college dataWith the cost of college rising and parents looking for a college that doesn’t cause their students to fall into debt after graduation, where do you go to find the data you need? Where do you find a college with the best bang for your college buck?

CollegeMeasures.org

This site describes itself as “committed to informing and improving the decision-making process for students, parents, and policy makers. By making available key data through websites like our 2-year and 4-year college data tools, we enable users to make smarter decisions, and in doing so help create a more efficient, productive and effective higher education system.” And it certainly delivers.

Upon further investigation, parents can gather data for both 2-year and 4-year colleges. Once you access the data tabs, you can view performance by college, by state, by rank and nationally. The comparison tools are excellent and easy to use. When you choose to examine by college, you can view the college’s performance scorecard listing several different criteria: strategic measures, graduation rate, retention rate, cost per student, cost per degree, cost of attrition, student loan default rates, and my favorite debt to earnings ratio.

With the debt to earnings ratio you can determine if the cost of degree is worth the investment based on earnings after graduation.

COLLEGEdata.com

COLLEGEdata.com tags itself as the online college advisor; and the site certainly lives up to its name. The site offers the following college helps categories:

  • Scholarship Finder
  • Admissions Tracker
  • Net Price Calculator
  • EFC Calculator
  • College Match
  • College Chances

Not only is the site a clearinghouse for college data, using it helps parents find the most generous colleges by using the college match tool. This tool allows you to choose colleges under the “Financial Friendliness” category and see statistics for the financial need met (0-100%); and merit aid scholarship percentages, giving you the option to include only students with financial need. This information will help you make information financial choices about the money you spend on the education.

As with all college search tools, you can filter the information by state, gender, major, graduation rates, freshman satisfaction, entrance difficulty, and on this one, sports offered. If you need to find a college in your state or region, that meets a substantial amount of need, this is the tool to use.

These two tools can help you weigh the financial investment you will make towards your college-bound teen’s education. With college costs skyrocketing, it’s becoming more and more critical to help their student graduate debt free.

Wednesdays parent

Wednesday’s Parent: Lessons on Decision Making from Olympic Athletes

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athletesDecision making is definitely a learned behavior. As parents, it’s our responsibility to teach our kids not only how to make decisions, but how to deal with the consequences of those decisions. Decision making is never easy but if you teach your kids to stay the course they will win the gold, much like the U.S. Olympic athletes.

Here are some lessons we can learn from Olympic athletes that can help with decision making.

Start young

Olympians start young in their sport of choice. They start young because they know that with practice they will eventually improve. As with any lesson or task, starting young is the key. It’s easy to give them simple choices when they are young that teaches them to make decisions. These simple choices will be the beginnings of a decision master.

Add technique as you get more experience

A figure skater starts simply with learning how to skate, and then they move on to learning spins, jumps and other tricks. The more your children make decisions, the more decisions you should allow them to make. As they master small ones, move on to larger decision choices, such as purchases.

Stay focused

Olympic athletes stay focused on the end goal: to compete in the Olympics. With any decision, it’s important to keep your eye on the goal and focus on the decision that needs to be made. Teach your teens to break their decisions down, weighing the pros and cons of each.

Learn from defeat

Olympic athletes fall and fail many times. They learn from their defeats and improve to produce different results the next time. Not every decision you make will produce the desired outcome. There are consequences, both good and bad, to all your decisions. However, if you learn from those defeats and capitalize on the victories, you will be successful in reaching your goals.

Olympic athletes train for years to often compete just one time. Everything they have is put into planning for the competition. As you grow, decisions become an integral part of your life: choosing a college, choosing a career path, choosing a mate, purchasing a house, and deciding whether to have children. If your children start young making small decisions, the big ones will be much easier.

For more decision making tips, read Wendy’s blog:

7 Shakespearean Steps to Good Decision Making

Guest Posts, test prep

Top 5 Testing Tips

 

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testing
Photo Courtesy of Student Loan Network

Exam time is a stressful and tiring time. Nights leading up to the exam are usually filled with studying and pulling all-nighters at the library and, sometimes, you may just be unsure about how to approach studying for a particular class. Whether you like to plan your studying ahead of time or you don’t think about the exam until the last minute, here are 5 testing tips to help you ace those tests.

  1. Prioritize. In college, there might be times when you have to study for several different classes. It can get overwhelming and stressful. In these cases, prioritizing your workload can be helpful. Dedicate more time studying for an exam that can make or break your grade rather than an exam that won’t affect your grade very much. Once you have strategized your studying, be sure you are reviewing only content that will be on the test and you are not wasting any time by studying irrelevant content.
  2. Review with others. Reviewing with others can be a great way to study for the exam, and oftentimes there will be review sessions provided by the professor. Many will focus on topics that will be covered heavily on the test, which can be helpful in deciding what to study later. Reviewing material with other students can also be helpful. You can teach material you’re confident in, which will make you understand the topics instead of just memorizing them. In turn, your classmates may help you pick up on material you are unsure of. If you are studying with friends, try to stay on topic and don’t study with friends who are not studying for the same exam as it can only lead to distractions.
  3. Study smart. Do not try to reread the whole textbook before the exam. Even if you can get through the book, it can be information overload and it will be hard to remember all of it. Hopefully, you have kept up with the reading throughout the semester so you can go back over your notes instead of attempting to read the book. Skimming through notes can also help you find topics you’re not confident with.
  4. Take breaks. Taking breaks during your study sessions is a must. A good study session should consist of 45 minutes of studying followed by a 15-minute break. This method gives you a mental break and it can help you stay focused since you just need to study for 45 minutes. Eat a healthy snack, take a walk, or talk to friends and you will come back to studying refreshed. Eating and drinking water regularly helps fuel your brain and exercising can help clear your mind.
  5. Be prepared. Before you go into your exam, pack everything you might need. Bring a water bottle to stay hydrated as well. Dress in confortable layers so you are prepared for varying temperatures in your testing room. Head into the exam early so you are not in a rush and stressed out before you even start the testing process.

Exams can be exhausting and full of anxiety but they can be manageable by studying smart and being prepared. These tips can help you go into the next exam with confidence.

___________________

 About today’s guest blogger: Priya Sudendra is a recent graduate of University of Colorado and a staff writer for CollegeFocus, a website dedicated to helping students deal with the challenges of college, including housing, finance, style, health, relationships, and transferring from a community collegeto a four-year university.

You can follow CollegeFocus on Twitter and Facebook.

mom approved tips, parenting, Uncategorized

Mom-Approved Tips: Teach Your Kids the Value of Money

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money

Before you send your kids off to college, they need to learn about the value of money. Ideally, it starts at an early age; but if you haven’t started, there’s no time like the present!

When your kids are away at college they are going to be responsible for their own spending (and saving). There will be offers galore from credit card companies because college students are their biggest target market. If they hook them while in college it usually means they have them for the rest of their lives.

My parents never taught me these lessons and I wish they had. I never did chores, had to save for anything I wanted, or learned how to use credit wisely. I have to admit I didn’t do the best in this area of parenting either. But I have learned over the years that if you neglect these lessons, your kids will suffer.

Following are just a few tips to help you teach your kids the value of money:

Establish chores

You can get them accustomed to chores at an early age, providing an allowance based on their age and the amount of chores they do. They should know how to do their own laundry, clean bathrooms, and cook meals. Not only will you be teaching them that hard work produces reward, but these skills will serve them well when they are living on their own.

Teach them to earn what they want

If a child works to earn something, they value it more. If you want to buy them a car, purchase a used one that needs repair and teach them to work on the repairs themselves. If they want a large ticket item, encourage them to get a part-time job and earn the money to pay for it. Save the gifts for Christmas and birthdays. Once they learn this simple truth, it will be much easier to explain to them that you expect them to contribute financially to their college education.

Explain the difference between wants and needs

This is a valuable lesson they will carry with them into adulthood. Today’s kids are accustomed to instant gratification; but saving for something teaches them that just because they want something, it doesn’t mean they need it. If they are committed to save for it, they will re-examine whether or not they truly need it. When they are away at college, this will be the first question they ask themselves before pulling out an easily obtained credit card.

Encourage giving

Giving to others will show kids how to bless others when they are blessed. Finding people in need will give than an appreciation for their own blessings and cause them to re-evaluate those “things” that they find so important in lieu of saving to help others.

Teach them to save

Putting money away in a piggy bank or savings account teaches them to save for future purchases. When they learn this, you are teaching them to plan for the future and this should follow them into adulthood.

Always remember that kids mirror their parents’ behaviors. If they see you frivolously spending and raking up credit card debt, they will follow your example when they go off to college.

college majors, college planning, spotlight on

Educate To Career: Helping Students Chart a Course for Success

 

Today’s guest post is from Mike Havis from Educatetocareer.org, a non-profit organization with the goal of providing free, online college and career planning tools for high school students and their parents.

____________________

educate to career

There is a huge problem affecting our young people today – those very people who wish to go out and start making a life for themselves – and do great things for our society.

The problem is evidenced by the massive amount of college graduate unemployment and underemployment – coupled with the absolute crisis of $1.1 trillion in non-performing college student loan debt.  It is hard to find a family in the U.S. that has not been touched by these problems.  I learned all about this myself when my son Ben graduated from Rancho Buena Vista HS (in Vista, CA) in 2008.

My wife and I, along with our son, asked ourselves questions such as:

  • Should Ben go for a college degree in the subjects that he likes and is good in?
  • Do all college degrees lead to an actual job in that field?
  • How much does a college education cost?
  • In actuality, which degrees lead to obtaining a real job?

The answers to these questions were not readily at hand, or even easy to find.  The crisis that I referred to stems from poor choices made due to lack of good information + an abundance of misinformation.

This inspired me to create Educate To Career (ETC). We feel that students should make well informed and pragmatic decisions about college and career – based on the reality of what the job market is looking for and the ROI of a college education.  ETC’s tools and programs are very easy to use, and address these issues with real facts and figures.

The innovative CareerBuddy program allows students and parents to apply the student’s personal academic strengths and weaknesses to research college majors for over 6,000 two and four year colleges.  The CareerBuddy program assists users in selecting majors which lead to real careers with good employment opportunities and earnings.  The program is free, easy to navigate and requires no registration by the user.

The information provided includes:

  • Recommended colleges
  • Recommended careers
  • Starting salaries

CareerBuddy, used in conjunction with ETC’s other programs – CollegeBuddy and SalaryBean, enables a student to find all of the pertinent information they require to sensibly plan his or her post high school career and college path – all in one place.

Students have been unable to find the proper tools to assist them in making informed decisions about their future – as evidenced by the over $1 trillion in nonperforming college student-loan debt, coupled with the very high unemployment and underemployment of college graduates.

_______________________

Educate To Career was founded to provide high school students with free, online navigator and calculator programs to ultimately guide them to a real career – defined as one in which their education leads to a real job with a good salary.

Educate To Career is the leader in providing information, data, tools and programs in the area of college and career outcomes.

Educate To Career : The Leader in Educational Attainment to Career Outcome Information.

 

Scholarship Friday, scholarships, Uncategorized

Scholarship Friday: Scholarships You Will Love

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scholarships you love
photo courtesy of Zinch

Roses are red,

Violets are blue

Check out these scholarships

And snag some college funds too!

Zinch gathered together a short list of scholarships with deadlines in February and March. Sign up for an account and you can access all the pertinent scholarship information and apply through their site. And here’s a plus–if you win the scholarship Zinch will match your award up to $1000. I can’t think of a better reason to use their scholarship match and application service.

Check out Zinch’s list of Scholarships You’re Sure to Love

in the news

Top 5 Must-Read Articles for Parents of the College-Bound

 

must-read articlesOften as I scour the web I find articles I want to share with my parent readers. Apart from tweeting about them and pinning them, this week I would like to highlight them on my blog in hopes that you will examine them further and gather some helpful information.

Following are five must-read articles for parents of the college-bound.

1. On education policy and what Obama left unsaid in the State of the Union

The Washington Post Education section found two things missing from the State of the Union address this year. The first was any rhetoric about fixing the One Child Left Behind law and the second was related to colleges raising tuition prices.

On higher education, Obama in his 2012 and 2013 addresses warned colleges that they must act to contain rising tuition.

In 2012, he said: “We can’t just keep subsidizing skyrocketing tuition. We’ll run out of money. States also need to do their part, by making higher education a higher priority in their budgets. And colleges and universities have to do their part by working to keep costs down.”

In 2013, the president said: “But taxpayers can’t keep on subsidizing higher and higher and higher costs for higher education. Colleges must do their part to keep costs down, and it’s our job to make sure that they do. So, tonight, I ask Congress to change the Higher Education Act so that affordability and value are included in determining which colleges receive certain types of federal aid.”

This year, the language was much less pointed.

Read More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/on-education-policy-and-what-obama-left-unsaid-in-the-state-of-the-union/2014/01/30/f48a5288-89c3-11e3-916e-e01534b1e132_story.html

2. Many colleges are misleading students about financial aid requirements

A prominent House Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings, said that some universities are requiring students to complete additional forms besides the FAFSA to be eligible for financial aid.

. . . more than 100 colleges and universities, including some in the nation’s capital, are providing students with unclear or potentially misleading information about what forms they must submit to apply for federal financial aid.

Often colleges require students to submit additional forms — which carry a fee — to qualify for grants from the institutions themselves or from other entities.

But too often, Cummings said, universities fail to spell out clearly what is required for which type of aid. He said that failure can leave students with the false impression that FAFSA is not the only application needed for federal aid.

“Congress banned this practice in 1992 because it creates undue hurdles for students seeking federal student aid,”

Read More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/congressman-many-colleges-are-misleading-students-about-financial-aid-requirements/2014/02/03/c5bcf13a-8d16-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

3. Community College enrollment drops

Surprisingly, as the economy begins to rebound, community college enrollment is dropping. Many believe community college is considered a low-cost alternative to university expense.

Nationally, community college leaders are worried that falling enrollment will squeeze their revenue. Some, like their counterparts at four-year colleges, are searching for “enrollment management” strategies to bolster their bottom line.

“These enrollment drops are of great concern as colleges try to balance their budgets,” David Baime, senior vice president for government relations at the American Association of Community Colleges. “I have talked to a number of presidents who are making difficult decisions.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/data-on-community-college-enrollment-drop/2014/01/23/6ac258a4-8435-11e3-8099-9181471f7aaf_story.html

4. How colleges define merit aid

A group of college presidents went to the White House Thursday to talk about new efforts to attract more low-income students to higher education, admissions leaders gathered here and talked about how they define merit.

When colleges say “merit aid,” in this context, they mean “a student or family with sufficient means to pay for college education but they want to get a good deal and they want bragging rights,” she said. “So-called merit aid is awarded neither because the student has earned it nor because we are meeting the objectives of our colleges.”

Read more:  http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/17/admissions-leaders-gather-and-consider-how-define-merit

5. High school follows you

A new study suggests that high school grades have a greater effect on college grades than you might think. A poor high school student is more likely to struggle in college.

The study by the National Bureau of Economic Research examines the college grades of students admitted to the University of Texas at Austin through the “10 percent program” in which the top students at every Texas high school have been guaranteed admission (although the percentage has been reduced somewhat since the plan was created).

The study found that the quality of high school is a key predictor of grades in college, not only in freshman year, but continuing into the sophomore and junior years as well.

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/01/27/study-finds-impact-attending-poor-high-school-follows-one-college

parenting, Uncategorized, Wednesdays parent

Wednesday’s Parent: These Tactics Won’t Spur Action

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college prep actionI tell so many people I work best under pressure. It’s not an excuse; it’s a fact. As you can imagine though, it’s stressful. Chasing deadlines may work when you’re self-employed, but it’s not a habit you want your college-bound teen to adopt. Every teen, unfortunately, procrastinates. It’s a part of their nature; and the college prep process on top of other life activities lends itself to procrastination.

Knowing that all teens (and some parents) procrastinate, what should you avoid when trying to motivate them to action during the college prep process.

Don’t be a bad example

We all know that our kids mirror us and our actions. If you college-bound teen sees you putting things off, procrastinating on tasks, and ignoring things that need to be done, why should they take action themselves? If you want you teen to tackle tasks as they become available and submit applications and forms before the deadline, model that behavior.

Don’t be a nag

Nagging never works with a teenager (and rarely works with a spouse). At some point they learn to tune you out. By the time they become teenagers all they hear is “blah, blah, blah”.

Don’t do it for them

Many parents get so tired of begging and nagging, that they opt to do it themselves. They complete the applications, write the essays, answer emails and take care of all the college related tasks. Yes, it happens; and colleges know when a parent is “helping” with the process.

Don’t lay on the guilt

Every parent uses the guilt tactic. Guilt will do more damage than motivate. If your teen begins to feel that they can never please you, it affects their self esteem. And they will stop trying because they feel whatever they do it’s not enough to please you.

Don’t jam it down their throat

There is a fine line between helping and encouraging and forcing your teen to do things. If your teen is not exhibiting any interest in test prep, college searches, scholarship searches and applications, perhaps there is a reason that needs to be addressed. Forcing them to write an essay will not produce a successful result. Making them apply to college when they don’t want to go will only cause bigger problems in the future.

You know your teen and you know what motivates them. Don’t use these tactics that rarely produce effective results.

Conversely, read Wendy’s blog on what you CAN do to motivate them to action.

 

college visits, how to, Uncategorized

How to Demonstrate Interest in a College

 

demonstrate interestBelieve it or not colleges want to know you are interested in attending. This interest will have an effect on their offers of admission. If they give you a coveted “accepted” slot, it only makes sense that those slots will go to the students who demonstrate interest. They are selling a service and they want interested customers, not casual shoppers.

Even if you can’t visit campus due to travel restraints, don’t despair. There are other ways you can demonstrate interest in a college.

Scheduled High School Visits

Colleges visit high schools. The ones in your area or state will be more likely to visit and connect with students and if you’re interested, this is an excellent place to meet the college representatives. It’s the old “put a face to a name” philosophy that works to your advantage when they are sifting through application packets.

College Fairs

Most cities have college fairs where colleges send their representatives to connect with students. Don’t just walk by the tables and collect their brochures and booklets. Speak with someone and fill out a card with your information. They see thousands of students during this fair and this face to face opportunity should not be neglected.

If you don’t have a college fair close by, consider attending CollegeWeekLive’s college fairs. These fairs are conducted entirely online and attended by college representatives. You can connect using your computer’s webcam and ask any questions you might have. It’s the next best thing to a local college fair.

Campus Visits

There is no better place to connect than during a campus visit. Make it official by signing up for a tour on the college’s website. Once you’re there, schedule an interview with an admissions officer and a financial aid officer. Talk to them about your interest in their college and ask any questions you might have at the time.

Social Media

Social media makes it easier than ever to connect with colleges and their representatives. You can follow them on Twitter, friend them on Facebook, connect with them on LinkedIn, and follow their Pinterest and Instagram accounts. Demonstrate genuine interest and contribute to the conversations; but don’t flood their accounts with replies and questions. In this case, less is more.

When application decision time rolls around you should have established yourself as an interested candidate. College admissions officers should be able to look at their records and see that you demonstrated interest. Some will remember your face, look back on your interview and be able to recall any conversations they had with you during the  admissions process. You will trump anyone who hasn’t expressed interest and was simply a casual shopper.