Here's What We're Talking About This Week! Could you one day have your social security checks garnished to pay for your kids' college? Yes. You may be in danger of having your social security checks garnished and not even realize it. Parents duped into taking out...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! Learn my 9 best strategies for putting together effective, stress-free college visits. You’ll find my most current info on this subject here.

Today I'm featuring a 5-minute video clip from the TV show Adam Ruins Everything. This 5-minute clip is titled, "How College Loans Got So Evil." It's funny! But then again, it's not funny at all—because it's true. Please share this post with every parent, teacher,...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! A girl recently contacted me, asking me to explain to her how she could wrestle control of her 529 college savings plan away from her parents. "They are unreliable and untrustworthy," she told me. "What!?" I thought. "Are...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! "We need to see you right away," the anxious mom told me on the phone, her voice shaking. "Our son is $40,000 in debt from a history degree he's not going to complete, and now he's changing his major to music performance. At...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! It was 8:35 am on a Saturday, and I was standing at a whiteboard in a large classroom—drawing diagrams I'd need for the class I was about to teach. From behind me I heard a young male voice. "Hi, I'm early. I wanted to say hi...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! One of the best money-saving ideas I suggest for college students is, "Don't take a car to college." Most college campuses provide easy access to safe public transportation—and when a student really needs a car she can always...

I'm spending Memorial Day having as much fun as I possibly can—and I hope you are too. Whenever I take time off like this, I like to point you to some of my most helpful articles that you may have missed. This gives you a chance to catch up—right on a week when you...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! If your child has even a relatively minor medical problem, he or she may qualify for medical-based financial aid to help pay for college. The key thing to know is—medical-based financial aid isn't applied for the regular way...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! From the time students are in middle school, they're told the big lie. That colleges and grad schools are looking for students who are "well-rounded." "Don't commit too deeply to any one thing," well-meaning parents and...

I'm spending President's Day with my dear husband, who also has the day off today. Yipppeee! Whenever I take time off like this, I like to point you to some of my most helpful recent articles that you may have missed. This gives you a chance to catch up—right on a...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! If you haven't yet signed up your 10th or 11th grader to take college classes in high school next fall—it's OK. It may not be too late. "Tell me more about students taking real college classes in high school." In the majority...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! The last thing you want to do is raise a child who's just a dull drone, pouring out memorized facts as though facts have the power to save the world. You want to raise a child who will be valued in a future workplace for...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! Recently I got such a great question from a mom. I’m hoping many parents will benefit from hearing why I told her, “No, I don’t.” Jeannie, I was wondering if you do coaching for students looking to study for the SAT and ACT...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! Most of my time on this blog is spent helping parents get their teens and college students to careers they'll love as quickly as possible. This makes sense—because years spent dragging feet in underemployment or treading...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! So, your 20-something daughter wants to live at home in her childhood bedroom. Should you happily say yes and make a plate of warm cookies to welcome her back? Or could this put you (and your child) in a bad spot? You’ll find...

Here's What We're Talking About This Week! The 20s are a critically important time of life. Young men and women who maximize their 20s tend to have far better lives than those who don't. I know this, because I've read the book The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties...