Tag Archives: Success

Freshman Finance 101

Coaching, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Success In College, Uncategorized, , ,

The focus for this fall’s college freshmen has, no doubt, been academic preparation to be accepted into their chosen college or university and to do well once they arrive.  There’s another important aspect of preparation for college that may not have gotten enough attention – financial preparation.  I don’t mean having enough money to pay for college even though that’s a tremendous challenge.  I’m referring to money college students will spend for other things.  Parents can’t send them everything they need or want.  The question is whether they’ll know how to manage the hundreds or thousands of dollars they spend in cash and with debit/credit cards during the school year whether they earn it or get it from home.

Parents, start teaching your college bound sons and daughters good money management skills before they graduate from high school.  We all know how challenging managing money is even if we know how to do it.  Every month, things happen that can derail our financial plans.  We’ve had time to learn how to deal with these events.  Typically, college bound high school seniors haven’t.

Help your sons and daughters practice good money management skills before they go to college also.  Knowing how to manage money and doing it well are not the same.   Help them get some practice at budgeting and spending their money based on their budget.   Also, strongly suggest that they take a course in personal finance to learn more about how to manage money now and after graduation.   Take a look at this article to read  about four things you can do now so your sons and daughters pass Freshman Finance 101 with flying colors and dollars to spare.

More Challenges For Minority Students in Higher Education

First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Success In College, Uncategorized, , ,

Picture this in your mind.  World class athletes line up for a 100-yard dash.  All of them are white except one who is Black.  When the gun sounds the white athletes bolt from their starting blocks and run as fast as they can.  The black runner, however, is held back until the other runners have gone 50 yards.  Then he is allowed to run and told “you’re equal now”.  When he asks about the 50-yard head start everyone else got, he’s told to make that up “on your own”.  That’s where we are in America since affirmative action programs have be eliminated in colleges and universities.  Although past racial injustices have not been addressed, blacks and other persons of color have been told to make up the huge gaps that remain “on their own”.  In a recent article from the New York times, Vivian Yee discusses what this “on your own” attitude can produce.  Its’s call the “ideal system” where every student will be evaluated with the same standards based on “merit” alone.  The level of preparation and/or ability resulting from minority students’ k-12 educations will not be considered in any way nor will there be any specific efforts to diversify enrollment.  This may be a reason why  the number of and percentage of minority students in higher education reached a plateau or began to decline in 2011.

Some schools, like Columbia however, have very intentionally worked hard at diversity and have increase minority enrollment and graduation in recent years.  Harvard, in fact, has the most diverse class in 380 years for this fall .  It has been shown that diversity improves educational outcomes at all levels.  I suggest that all parents and students making a college choice look more closely at diversity as a factor and let decision makers in higher education know diversity is important to you by choosing colleges that think it’s important too.

A Great Way To Save For College Few Families Use

Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Students, Success In College, Uncategorized, , ,
Copyright State Farm

Paying for college is a real challenge.  Tuition, room, board, books and other expenses can easily exceed $30,000 a year.  There is a way to save for these expenses that is effective and flexible.  In spite of this, few families take advantage of it.  In a recent article from Business Insider I read that only about 13% of families surveyed reported using a 529 plan to cover college expenses – down from 16% the prior year.  The plan allows parents or anyone else to open a 529 account and contribute through direct contributions, payroll deductions or automatic transfers – before a child is even born.  The money grows tax free and can be withdrawn tax free at any point as long as it’s used to cover college tuition, fees, books and supplies.

Each state runs their own plans so check with your state department of higher education for relevant details.  You can read about 111 options for investing funds in 529 plans at savingforcollege.com.  Starting a 529 plan early can help make paying for college easier and reduce the need for student/parent school loans.

Is An Ivy League Education Really Worth It?

First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Non-traditional Students, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,
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From the U. S. Department of Education on Flikr

Should you send your son or daughter to an Ivy League college or university or another high quality school that does not have the prestige or the cost of the Ivies?  This is a question parents all over the country wrestle with every year as decisions about where students will be in the fall are made.  The choice of a college or university depends on many things the most important of which is the student.  Each family should send their son or daughter to the school the fits him or her best and that fits their budget for college.  In Ivy League or Bust? , Kristin Battista-Frazee’s recent article on Huffington Post does an excellent job of setting out the factors to be evaluated when making this important decision.  I strongly recommend that you read this article before deciding on a college or university.

 

 

The Virginia Festival of the Book – A Wonderful Experience

Coaching, Events, First Generation College Students, Higher Education, Media Appearances, Mentoring Students, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In March, Donna and I were presenting authors at the Virginia Festival of the Book.  I participated in three events.  On Wednesday March 16th, I talked with fifty students at Albemarle High School about preparing for success in college.  Several of the students told me how much they appreciated the advice and how I shared it with them and the teachers were glad to hear their messages reinforced by someone the students enjoyed listening to.

Wednesday evening, I was one of two panelists discussing the adolescent mindset and the best ways to help students prepare for and have a successful college experience leading to graduation in four years with good grades and good job prospects.  There was a standing room only audience who had sons and daughters in college or preparing to go so they were quite interested in our presentations.  They demonstrated their interest by purchasing all the books I had brought for sale!

Finally, Sunday morning I briefly discussed College In Four Years at the Links of Charlottesville brunch for Festival authors who wrote books relevant to African Americans and/or people of color.  I told the audience of 200 about the value of the book for students and parents and how it could be instrumental in helping them work together for success in college.  The message resonated with them and they also purchased every book available for sale.

In addition to these presentations, I will be sharing more information with students in Charlottesville high schools in May.

Needless to say, I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Virginia Festival of the Book and thrilled with the reception College In Four Years got at all the events and with an opportunity to share information with more students in May.  Take a look at the pictures below from the events.

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The beginning of a great event!
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My talk with students at Albemarle High School.
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The Sawyer Authors!
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My panel discussion on the teenage mindset and higher education with Dr. Florence Jensen (The teenage Brain: Planning for Success in High School, College, and Beyond) and our moderator Ms. Elizabeth Benedict.

 

 

 

African America Part II: Changing Demographics

Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , ,
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By Fonna Seldu on Flikr

In African America: What The Media Won’t Tell You, I wrote about growth in the African American population from “The Untold Story”  – a Nielsen Corporation report.  There are other important facts about us in this report I want to share with you.  First, African Americans are, on average, younger than the non-hispanic white population – 31.4 years for African Americans versus 39 years for non-hispanic whites in America.  This means that advertisers have a longer period to build brand loyalty with African Americans and that we should  be careful about what companies we have long term relations with.  Our dollars will be even more important to them in the future so we should spend them carefully.

This will be even more important in the future because Blacks in America are going to college in greater numbers than Whites in America –  70.9% of black high school graduates versus 67.3% for non-hispanic whites.  This means we will consume longer with more money to spend because we are better educated.  The impact of more Blacks going to college is also reflected in the increased African American presence in the STEM disciplines. In 2011,  6% of STEM professionals were Black up from only 2% in 1970.

Finally, Blacks in America are not just focused on making and spending more money.  As our incomes rise at faster rates than non-hispanic whites, so does money allocated for the future in categories such as insurance policies, pensions and retirement savings.  This is important because too much black wealth has been in real estate instead of financial assets.  That’s why the real estate bubble that started the recession we’re recovering from now greatly reduced Black wealth in America.

This is just some of the information that shows  African Americans will continue to play a more important economic and demographic role in American than what is shown in the media.   Let me know what you think about this data.  Next time I’ll share more information with you about how diverse the black population in America is.  We’re not just one group of people.

African America: What The Media Don’t Tell You

Higher Education, Success In College, The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education, Uncategorized, , , , ,

John BullockI recently read a report done by the Neilsen Corporation on African American consumers in America which they titled “The Untold Story”.  There is so much important information in this report that I am going to do a series of four posts on it.  This post is an overview of the report and includes some very interesting statistics.

First of all, our numbers in America are increasing.  From 2000 to 2014 the African American population in American grew 35% faster than the overall population of the country and more than twice as fast as the white population in America.  You need look no further to better understand  the anger and fear some white people are feeling as shown in the news media on a regular basis. By 2060, Nielsen estimates that the Black population in America will be 74.5 million comprising 17.9% of the total U.S. population.

We are also becoming more educated.  The percentage of Black high school graduates enrolled in college was 70.9% exceeding that of both Whites and Hispanics.  Also, the high school graduation rate rose to over 70% outpacing all other groups in America.

We are also making and spending more money.  The percentage of black households making over $200,000 a year increased by 138% and African American income growth rates outpaced that of non-Hispanic Whites at every annual household income level above $60,000.  The result is that African American consumers spend 1 trillion 100 billion dollars annually!

This is not the picture of African America you will see in the media but it is the truth – it is who we really are in America today.  I’ll share more information with you in the next post.  In the meantime, let me know what you think about these surprising facts.  I’d like to hear from you.

In addition to the blog posts, I am going to begin podcasting my content in an effort to share information with more people.  If you are interested in subscribing, please let me know in your comments about this post below.

CARRYING ON THE TRADITION

Mentoring Students, Success In College, Uncategorized, , , , , ,

 

 

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by Rashida S. Mar b. courtesy of Flikr

In my blog post “Talking Good Talk” I shared the important role family dinners had in my life as I grew up. When I had my own family, my wife and I  instituted the same rule as my parents—six days a week, Sunday through Friday, our family ate dinner together. The tradition had the same effect on our children it did on me. We talked and laughed about everything which helped us bond as a family. We also talked good talk about what was happening the world and what it meant to each of us. My wife and I intentionally kept the conversation at a high level so our kids could learn from the discussion and the thinking behind comments  made.

My oldest daughter, who had a very good public school education, got a scholarship to a university in upstate New York. After a few weeks on campus she called and said “Daddy, I’m going to school with trust fund babies.”  When I asked her what that meant, she said these kids were from successful,  affluent New York families who provided them with everything they needed. From the day they were born their families set aside trust fund all they would need for the best private schools. “They had and still have advantages I don’t have,” she also told me, “but I have  no trouble keeping up with these students academically or socially because of what I learned around our dinner table.” I’m sure some other things contributed to confidence but I believe what she was telling me was that she knew what she had to say was valuable and valued and she could hold her own in any environment – with or without a trust fund.

From her experience and mine, I know that what happens to outside of school is as important, perhaps  more important than what happens in school. School is where you get your knowledge but home is where you learn your values. Let me know if you had similar experiences growing up or as a parent.

GradeUP! Challenge #6: You Can’t Study Your Textbook!

Higher Education, Mentoring Students, Success In College, , , , , , , , , ,
  • studying-studentIn the last post, I talked about how to use your textbook to prepare for and get the most out of your classes. You’re a few weeks into the semester so you’re probably preparing for a test on the material you’ve covered so far – let’s talk about how you prep for that.

First, don’t use your textbook to study for your test – it was never meant for that. The textbook is a reference source of all information about certain topics and concepts – you can’t remember all of what is in there. That’s why there are study guides that go with textbooks. However, you need to create your own custom study guide, one that works for you, not a generic one written by someone else. The best way to fully grasp the information that you’ll need to retain for an exam and use as a foundation for more learning is to process what’s in the text – not memorize the text. Here’s how you do that:

  • Get organized. Gather together everything you need to know and understand for the test – text, notes, handouts, your syllabus;
  • Using the textbook do the following;
    • Read a portion of the material you are responsible for on the test;
    • Close your book and summarize what you read in your own words – don’t look back at the book and don’t use or copy what the author wrote;
    • Read the section in the book again to see if your summary includes all of the important points;
    • If you missed some of the material, it means either you didn’t remember or you didn’t understand so go over that material again, summarize it;
    • Repeat the process for the next section of the text and repeat until you have created your own outline for all the material you are responsible for knowing for the exam;
  • Use this same technique for any additional resource material you need to know for the exam. Use the syllabus to make sure you’ve covered all the material you’re responsible for;
  • Don’t use anyone else’s study guide – you must do your own. This process creates a study guide specifically tailored to the way you process and learn material;
  • Now, use your study guide to prepare for the test. Don’t study the book or that stack of class notes – you’ve covered that in creating your guide so everything you need to know is in it.

Yes, this will take time – a lot longer than just reading the material but it is the best way to actually understand and be able to use what you learned when test time comes because doing your study guide well requires that you understand everything you outlined. You can’t finesse this – you’ve either got it or you need to go back to your resources and get it. Getting that understanding and creating your study guide is when learning takes place. When you’re finished, you will know and understand everything in it because that is the only way you could have done the guide well. A bonus, you’ve already started your comprehensive study guide for finals!

In Chapter 11 of College In Four Years, “How to Use Your Textbook the Right Way,” you’ll find more information on how to outline different types of study material to maximize understanding and ensure it works well for you.

Next GradeUp! Challenge, Tuesday, February 24.