Our Background
If you are like us, you started thinking about college the day your child was born; at least you thought about preparing for the costs of college even if you didn’t set up a 529 plan on your way home from the hospital! You also considered your own experiences–what worked for you and what didn’t. Based on those experiences, you may have projected expectations, plans and goals onto your kids potentially creating a one-way flow of communication. We get it! We have been there–and we find ourselves returning there occasionally–but we also know there is a better way to shepherd our kids through their school years and beyond than to make the decisions for them.
Higher Ed Parent was founded by a group of people who want to change the conversation and the family dynamic around academic, career, and personal success. We have had a unique combination of experiences, careers, job titles, and opportunities that have allowed us to help thousands of students (and our own children) make a successful transition from high school or the world of work to college. We are parents, educators, authors and speakers, researchers, practitioners, collaborators, lifelong learners, and dreamers. We believe that working together as parents and partners, we can help you and your young adult make more informed choices as you move together from their middle and high school experiences to postsecondary options.
Our Goals
How would you finish this sentence? The key to empowering our college-bound kids to become strong, independent, successful adults is ____________! For sure, there are many ways that this sentence can be completed. The goal of our site and resources is to explore those keys to success with transparency and humility. Some self-acclaimed experts will tell you the key is involvement in attaining an impressive GPA, involvement in advanced or honors classes, international experience, volunteer and leadership activities, or some combination thereof. We don’t claim to have the answer, but we believe that together we can prepare for the challenges our kids are likely to encounter and identify the tools we can draw on to coach them through.
Our combined experience as educators and parents has given us the unique perspective to identify common stumbling blocks before college, during college, and beyond. As Higher Ed Parent, our goal is to provide you with resources as you guide, coach, and support your young adult as they move through those important milestones. We share solutions that will empower them to become exceedingly successful young adults however they may define success.
More specifically, we will share our information and strategies for helping your student overcome the challenges faced by our emerging adults as well as the strategies we have learned along the way to guide them toward successful outcomes. We will provide you with resources that will help you guide your student to develop a greater sense of self-awareness and strategies for empowerment.
