My DH’s company has offered this for a few years already. Not sure how comprehensive the services are, though.
If it’s Bright Horizons, it’s worth it, I think. Even for those of us on CC, who are usually quite well-informed, there are nuggets of information to be gleaned.
BH offers one-on-one phone calls with professional college counselors. You upload your kid’s stats/resume stuff etc, and they will craft a college list. There are a ton of webinars & research segments. You can ask questions and get a reply online. They will review your kid’s college essay.
You don’t have constant access - there’s a limit, I think, to the number of personal counseling sessions etc – but then again, it’s free.
1 Like
We are well past the college application stage in our house (have migrated to the grandparents thread!!) so I DK which consulting company is offered from my DH’s work. Am curious though- will see if I can find out.
It’s a great perk, although I do worry that this is a bit along the lines of “the rich get richer.” People with good corporate jobs who already have access to various resources get yet another extra resource to help their kids, while the kids who really need this kind of help the most - the first gen kids, low income kids, etc - just fall further behind in an even widening gap between the well-resourced and the under-resourced.
5 Likes
You’ve got administrative assistants, payroll clerks, building maintenance and services employees- some of whom went to college, many of whom did not. There are a lot of employee benefits you could criticize as being “the rich get richer”-- it is hard to put 6% of your paycheck into your retirement plan to benefit from the “free money” of the 6% match if you are barely making ends meet. Even tuition benefits- you take a college class (or 10 or 20)-- most plans require that FIRST the employee pays for the class, and then after the semester, the cost is reumbursed. So that’s a tough one for someone living paycheck to paycheck who really needs those college classes to advance professionally.
I see this one as being benign. In some cases, a counselor can help. In others, it’s neutral. I’ve written before about my neighbors kid who is at an out of state public U. Fine place, but the parents can’t stop complaining “for this we paid thousands of dollars in counseling advice?”
The challenge should be on ALL of us- the veteran CC’er’s- to provide the free counseling to first gen, low income kids in our own communities!!!
3 Likes
This I agree can be a wonderful thing - I feel it firsthand when I help a student with their personal statement or supplemental essays. In fact one just recently even wrote me that they knew how much this kind of college assistance can cost and were so grateful that I was helping for free. I want more of this.
2 Likes
The benefit has been around since 1998 and it is actually different from how you are perceiving it to be. Think about separating the payer and the user because it is corporate sponsored. Also consider corporations have people from all income levels eligible for the benefit. They help people of all levels in an employer… hourly workers to officers.
5 Likes
There are many college access orgs where one can volunteer. Just google and see what you find locally. There are some national ones like ScholarMatch (where you would receive free training) and College Greenlight. Local/regional orgs near you include Avid in California and Students Rising Above in the Bay Area.
1 Like