Kitchen Table College Chats
We all know that choosing a college is one of the biggest investments your family will ever make, but it doesn't have to be the most stressful. Each and every episode, we pull up a virtual chair to cut through the jargon and tackle the real-world questions about admissions and finances and even the financial health and viability of colleges.
Episodes
This episode of Kitchen Table College Chat focuses on a central question for families: What actually makes a “good” college decision? Gary Stocker and Marc DeBoer challenge the traditional ways families evaluate colleges and argue that most students and parents focus on the wrong factors during the college search process.
The episode begins with listener questions about college pricing, admissions yield, and college closure...
Marc and Gary go back and forth on how is responsible for a student's success in college.
Gary notes that too many colleges don't even graduate 50% of their students in 4 years. Marc shares that too many parents assign responsibility to colleges for their student's success.
Share your thoughts to me at gary@collegeviability.com
Marc and Gary discuss some easy-to-find key indicators of financially strong college and financially weak colleges.
Available in the new College Viability Inspection Report, these are the top 3 they discussed.
1. Enrollment trends
2. Endowment value (effectively a college's savings account)
3. 4-year graduation rates
Here is the link to the College Viability Inspection Report.
Will a pothole or dingy dorms at your child's college campus be the final straw?
This week Marc and Gary look at retention (staying at a college) from perspective not normally shared in the higher education news media.
We sit around our virtual table and provide that perspective that students and parents need to make the best possible college decision.
Join us as we sit at your kitchen table for our College Chat.
In this podcast episode of Kitchen Table College Chats, Marc Deboer and Gary Stocker continue their virtual kitchen table chats for colleges students and their families.
Most students fall in love with a college campus. In this episode, we ask parents and students alike to make sure that colleges they love during the tour can deliver the college education needed.
From Emotion to Evaluation
Before you fall in love with a coll...
If you listen to enough college admissions advice, you might start to believe a few things:
That everyone should go to college.
Going to college guarantees you a good job.
That students must discover their life passion at age 17.
Or that the best strategy is simply applying to as many schools as possible and hoping for the best.
The problem?
A lot of that advice is based more on tradition and urban myth than reality.
In this e...
What if the college you choose doesn’t make it to your graduation day?
It sounds dramatic—but it’s becoming a very real question. Across the country, colleges are quietly cutting majors, merging programs, and in some cases closing altogether.
In this episode, Marc and Gary talk about the question families rarely ask during campus tours: Is this college financially healthy enough to get my student across the finish line?
<...
It is not just tuition along with room & board that are cost considerations of a college education. Here are two other items Marc and Gary talk about.
Almost everyone assumes their student will graduate in 4 years. Yet only 43% of American 4-year public and private colleges graduates students in 4 years. Every additional year needed adds additional costs. It also leads to . . . .
Opportunity costs: If a student ca...
As students and parents make plans for college visits, Marc and Gary offer questions to ask that many would not think to ask. In addition, they provide expected answers to questions and how to analyze those college responses.
If you are a student or parent and take a spin with the new College Viability Transparency Tool, click here.
Do you want to see how many students completed your major and a college? Click here.
Gary Stocker and Marc DeBoer provide the type of guidance and perspective students and their parents rarely get during the college search and decision process. This week they share and discuss the most useful and informative questions to ask during the college tour. Marc also offers how to get answers to questions tour guides typically don't have.
Popular Podcasts
Joy is essential. And it's also elusive. You can't order it, borrow it, or simply hope it into life. But now, there's a new and exciting way to start your journey toward a more joyful existence: The Joy 101 Podcast with Hoda! Best known for her Emmy-winning work and co-anchoring Today, Hoda Kotb infuses her authenticity, curiosity, and warmth into conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Entertainment legends, sport icons, wellness experts, and everyday folks will share how they find, allow, and experience joy. Hoda will offer her own tips and takes on seeking a more balanced, harmonious life. If you're craving inspiration, support, and useful tools to maximize your joy, tune in to these candid, uplifting, and moving on-air chats. Joy after a breakup, joy as an empty-nester, joy after loss, joy as a caretaker — Hoda's new podcast will speak to you. Joy 101 with Hoda Kotb, an iHeartPodcast.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.