Was privileged to have lunch today with Jeffrey Bowe, a professor with Catawba College (Salisbury, NC).  He was telling me about a cooperative program run with Central Piedmont Community College.  Through the program a student may earn a 2 year, Associate Degree at CPCC, and transfer to Catawba College to finish the bachelor's degree.  Full credit will be given for all of the hours earned at CPCC.  Making it even more convenient, the Catawba classes are taught on the CPCC campuses. Very affordable, and very convenient.  This is an especially viable option for any student who must work in order to afford college.

http://www.questbridge.org assists low-income students of proven academic achievement to afford a college education.

Don't rule yourself out.  Check it out and see what QuestBridge may be able to do for you.

If your high school has not already notified students about QUestBridge it would be nice of you to let your Guidance Counselors know (be sure to tell them who told you -- Thanks!)

A recent newspaper article about a college student facing a year-long delay in graduation due to a needed class being unavailable re-opens the conversation I have with every family regarding our process for college selection. 

The student in the news article needs a class for her degree that is offered only once per year (Fall semester).  Only two sections are offered by the one professor qualified to teach an advanced, technical class.  By the time the young woman got to registration, both sections were full. 

Her choices next Fall will be to take just the class she needs and work part-time; or take additional classes not required while enrolled in the one she must have.  Either way, entrance into her career will be postponed by perhaps as much as six months.

We advise and coach students into identifying a career path, first.  Yes, it may not end up being the one they eventually pursue.  Nevertheless, having a career track in mind leads seamlessly to a proposed "Major."  Identifying those two helps significantly when trying to decide to which colleges a student should apply for admission.

A student prepared in that manner can, from day one, identify required classes and (with the help of an academic advisor) get those course requirements satisfied as early as possible.

How many times have you seen Jack Nicholson blast Tom Cruise with those words from A Few Good Men, their well-known movie?  My mentor, Don Blanton, has said too often for me to count, "We are in the belief changing business." 

Some of the facts espoused by money gurus on the radio are demonstrably erroneous.  Much conventional wisdom about wealth accumulation is inferior, if not untrue.   Learning that is one moment in time.  Accepting it and changing our beliefs (sometimes long and dearly held) is a process that can take time.

Trying to accelerate that process is not my task.  The things people believe are not only among their empirical set, they are also rooted in their emotional set.  It is emotional to realize and accept that what you thought was true has turned out not to be. 

Two qualities that I continuously refresh and nurture, therefore, are patience and understanding.  Time is everyone's greatest financial asset.  The value of time in the uninterrupted, compounding growth of money can hardly be overstated.  On the other hand, pressuring people to change a mistaken and deep-rooted belief can be counter-productive.

When Tom Cruise demanded the truth from Jack Nicholson, Jack snarled back, "You can't handle the truth!"  How about you?