Tips to Choosing a College Success Coach

When considering the sizeable financial investment you or your family puts into college, the benefits of having a college success coach can outweigh the costs. Considering that the average graduate takes about 6 years to earn a 4 year degree, having a college success coach in your corner can help you avoid tens of thousands of dollars in extra tuition costs.
By True Schools Staff

Times are tough. The U.S. economy has been through recession and appears to be teetering on the brink of another. The importance of a college degree to get ahead has never been higher. If you're graduating from high school this year and thinking of college or if you're contemplating going back to college to complete your degree or obtain an advanced degree, then you should read this.

A new trend that has emerged over the past few years is the hiring of college success coaches. College is an investment, and one of the best ways to insure that investment could be to hire a college success coach to help you or your child stay motivated and focused on the ultimate goal. Here are a few of the pros and cons to success coaches.

The primary objective of a college success coach is to motivate students to use their strengths to help minimize their weaknesses, whatever those may be. Often students that have performed poorly in the past have done so due to a lack of challenges or interest in the subjects they've studied. A success coach will work with the student in some ways like a tutor and in other like a guidance counselor. A coach is also there to answer questions and define expectations for particular classes, majors and degrees.

The coach will help the student identify and complement his/her strengths while providing ideas and resources to minimize their academic weaknesses. A large part of the job of a college success coach is to motivate students to stay focused and motivated in classes that come easy and to help them work through the more difficult classes that often cause frustration. Students are often taught skills like how to best approach and take an exam, how to study most effectively, and what they should evaluate when choosing a major and or career to pursue.

In terms of the cons of hiring a college success coach, it mostly comes down to cost. Most coaches work with students on a weekly or monthly schedule of sessions, and while prices vary, it's not uncommon for sessions to run around $100 each. If a parent has hired a coach for an unwilling student, then issues can arise there as well, but these usually work themselves out.

While the investment in a success coach can be sizeable, the long-term financial benefits can be significant. It's not uncommon for many students to take six years or more to complete their degrees. With some schools costing upwards of $50,000 a year, the benefits of helping those students stay on track and graduate in fours years are clear and sometimes significant.