The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

Colleges
Featured image for “Having Second Thoughts About the University of Pittsburgh”
July 1, 2013

Having Second Thoughts About the University of Pittsburgh

I received this email over the weekend from an anxious father that I wanted to share with you. The dad is having second thoughts about the school that he pressured his daughter to attend. He is already contemplating his daughter transferring next year to a different school. I think his story could generate some interesting discussions about rankings, price, graduate...
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Featured image for “Is This University Stingy?”
March 15, 2013

Is This University Stingy?

If you require need-based financial, you should hunt for schools that are generous with their aid packages. This is the advice that I shared in my last college blog post: Where Is the Financial Aid Cash? If you didn’t read it, I’d suggest that you do before continuing on with this post. If money is an issue, students should be...
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Featured image for “A Look at Where 15,600 Liberal Arts Grads Got Jobs”
March 7, 2013

A Look at Where 15,600 Liberal Arts Grads Got Jobs

Today I’m sharing a post written by David Kochanek, who is the publisher of LiberalArtsColleges.com, a site dedicated to providing students and parents with the information they need to make intelligent college decisions. In his post he examines the the beauty of pursuing a liberal arts degree from the perspective of Williams College, an elite institution, which has tracked where...
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Featured image for “The Pros and Cons of Honors Colleges”
February 22, 2013

The Pros and Cons of Honors Colleges

After I published my last post on honors colleges, I heard from Stuart Nachbar, who produces amazingly in-depth profiles of primarily state universities at his website EducatedQuest, which I’d urge you to visit regularly. Stuart wrote a great piece on the pros and cons of honors college, which I’m sharing with you today: By Stuart Nachbar During our visits, we...
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Featured image for “A Welcome Break from College”
December 24, 2012

A Welcome Break from College

I wanted to wish everyone who visits my college blog a happy holiday. Unless you are a high school senior or the parent of one, I’d suggest this is an excellent time to forget about college for a week. That’s what I intend to do, which is why I won’t be writing any more blog posts until 2013. I am...
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Featured image for “What is the Difference Between Colleges and Universities?”
December 3, 2012

What is the Difference Between Colleges and Universities?

Today’s post comes courtesy of a new website, LiberalArtsColleges.com, which was created by David Kochanek after he realized that there wasn’t a single online source dedicated to all liberal arts colleges. As some of you know, I’m a huge admirer of liberal arts colleges and both of my children ended up at one.  I believe liberal arts colleges represent the...
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October 17, 2012

8 Reasons to Attend Canadian Universities

Ever thought about attending a Canadian university? A growing number of Americans are considering earning a college degree from up North. Actually, it’s not as far north as you might think because most Canadian universities are near the US border. Here are some reasons why you might want to consider exploring schools in Canada. 1. Reasonable price. The costs at...
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October 3, 2012

50 Schools That Produce the Most Science and Engineering PhD’s

Note: I ran this college blog post last year, but it’s equally relevant today… I got an email this week from a California mother who was happy that her child would be a attending St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a wonderful public liberal arts college, in the fall. Her husband, however, remained skeptical. He worried that his daughter would be...
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September 14, 2012

A Trailblazer Slashes College Tuition by 33%

A report released on Wednesday from the U.S. Census Bureau documents what a lot of people have been feeling for many years. Household income has been eroding for so long that it has now fallen to levels last seen in 1995. Median household income is now at an inflation-adjusted $50,054, which is 8.9 percent below its all-time high of $54,932...
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August 29, 2012

A New Tool to Explore Colleges

I’m always excited when I run across a new resource to help families research colleges. Today I’m happy to share a valuable one from The Chronicle of Higher Education. College Completion is a microsite within the website of the higher-ed trade publication. I mentioned the tool briefly in this recent college blog post: 12 Ways to Find and Research Colleges....
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