Proposed reductions in funding for the Cal Grant program, in the current 2013 Fiscal budget plan, would reduce private, non-profit university student’s grants by 17% by 2014 to $8,056 per year. (Examples of private non-profit colleges are the University of Pacific or University of Southern California.) Current Cal Grants for private, non-profit university students are…
Tag: Parent
“Honey, Fire Up the Chopper!”
When it’s time for kids to move to college, it might be more complex to let go than you think. A lifetime of “taxi-ing” to every soccer practice and tournament in Timbucktoo, emailing teachers daily, tutoring homework, staying up late to put the clothes in the dryer ” ‘ cuz I gotta wear that shirt,…
Reading Does Not Make You a Nerd
It’s summer. Hot (read: reason to stay inside). No school (read: students have LOTS of free time, for which their parents’ intentions and their own intentions may differ). So, its the season for numerous media articles lamenting “summer slide” or students “forgetting” the academic information from the previous school year to features of popular…
Being Special in a Sea of Special
Wow. In a time when it seems every 5 year old knows what “self-esteem” means, David McCullough Jr. reminded us of our basic human equanimity. “…even if you’re one in a million, on a planet of 6.8 billion that means there are nearly 7,000 people just like you. ” Boy, that either fries your hide…
College Transportation Blues?
A car, insurance, gas, general maintenance for wear and tear (not to mention possible tickets) and time lost trying to find parking can be a hassle for most college students. To save money (or because of a university bans freshmen from bringing cars for their first year), students have for years chosen to rely on…
Standardized Testing: The Good, The Bad and A Hmmmm…Moment
Bob Schaeffer of FairTest, an organization committed to a fair use of standardized testing in K-12 schools and college admissions, recently spoke with Creative Marbles about assessments. Our conversation reminded me of questions I’ve been asking since I was a beginning teacher, “How do we know (i.e. grasp clearly in the mind) what another has…
Financial Aid 101: Are You Financially Literate?
Paying for college seems out of the ordinary, given the total amount, which creates the “wake-me-up-from-a-dead-sleep-gasping-for-air” feeling. However, with some foresight, families can approach college expenses together and with less nervousness. Art Baird, Creative Marbles CEO and financial aid expert, and Jill Yoshikawa, Partner of the Educational Division at Creative Marbles, recorded a recent conversation…
Will the $10 Billion Deficit in Pension Obligations Affect the Quality of UC Education?
The perfect storm: increasing numbers of qualified high school graduates for UC admissions, baby boomers maturing to retirement, who were promised generous pensions–which UC administrators did not fund for 20 years starting in the early 1990’s–and current reductions in state funding for higher education–all put pressure to increase tuition–while at the same time real wages…
“Careers, college majors, financial security…oh, my!”
Here’s an updated database showing average salaries in the Sacramento region can help prospective college students and their families in making decisions about majors and careers. The database is an easy way for teens (who by age are limited in experience) to be exposed to the diverse range of jobs, within their interests and talent.…
Guest Post: Advice for Dads from their Daughters this Father’s Day
Reflecting upon my last seven years being a father, as this Father’s Day fast approaches, led me back to a conversation I had a year or so ago with a friend about the time of her own father’s passing. Her father, having played a important role in my own development at a complicated time in…
College Application Advice for Rising Seniors & Their Parents
“OMG, I’m going to be filling out college applications in the fall!” Rising seniors (and their parents) can react on a scale, somewhere between total avoidance and frenetic activity to get it all done. Here’s a few tips to prepare for Fall applications:
What’s Planted in the “Garden of Your Mind”?
Mr. Rogers, an oldie but goodie, teaches us once again….
College Freshmen: Starting Over or New Adventure or Both?
Moving away from home and starting classes at a new school both uncharted territory for anyone, yet will occur simultaneously for college freshmen all across the country in the next few months. Whew. Talk about cause for sudden mood shifts. Here’s some advice, as the transition continues through the summer months:
Arrrgh! What Information about Colleges Should Be Paid My Attention?
The most recent U.S. Department of Education statistics about the states the Fall 2010 freshmen class comes from is telling for prospective applicants and their families, when seeing the data from different views.