While I understand that the transition from high school to college is literally life-changing, many students are entering college without any ability to live on their own. I see kids who are constantly on the phone with their parents, make daily trips back to their hometowns, and cocoon themselves from any new experiences on campus. To some small degree you have to appreciate why employers don’t want to give these people jobs once they graduate. The ability to think on your own and solve problems as they arise is critical to being successful in today’s world.

Anyway, the point of this entry is how taking a year off between high school and college might have always been a good idea for some students, but it might be a good idea for all students given some pending legislation. As the New York Times reports:

Last month, President Obama proposed what some experts called the most sweeping changes in federal college aid programs in decades. But even if Congress approves the new and expanded programs, they will not take effect until July 2010.

So here is a heretical idea for this year’s high school seniors: Take a year off and go out and do something else. Then, when it is available, see if you can take advantage of that aid money — more fixed-rate student loans and bigger grants to the poorest students.

Brilliant! This is a great idea that has many unintended (or perhaps intended) consequences. First, those who take next year off to develop themselves as human beings will be better prepared for the rigors of college life. Second, colleges will be forced to re-evaluate their expenses and whether or not they offer a valuable service given the realities of today’s market. And last but not least, you have the actual intended effect of the recommendation above – take a year off and wait until more subsidy dollars flow to your educational pursuits.

If coordinated correctly, this idea could initiate a great shift in the higher education system.

New Jersey seems to be ready to confront that problem head on. Last week, the New Jersey State Senate passed a bill that would require the equivalent of Finance 101 for New Jersey’s students. As reported on the Asbury Park Press website:

High school seniors would be taught how to write a check, manage credit card debt and obtain a mortgage under a bill advanced in the New Jersey Senate.

The Senate Education Committee approved a pilot program in personal financial education despite concerns about overloading the high school curriculum.

I often draw on my experience in advising college students, but one of my previous jobs was working for a real estate management company. One of our core businesses was renting houses to college students. We used to have college kids (majoring in business and finance, no less) walk into our offices to pay rent and hand us blank checks because they didn’t know how to fill them out. Really!

The mortgage portion of the new Finance 101 course will be interesting to watch unfold. I can almost hear the banks salivating at the idea of young, unworldly individuals becoming “pre-certified” in their first-time home buyer’s program – before even stepping foot into college. I’m a major proponent of First-Time Home Buyer’s workshops because they are effective in weeding out problem borrowers. In fact, I was at an event last week where the attendees were talking about how the studies are all showing that the mortgage meltdown mess is not hitting the first-time home buyers and those who have graduated from first-time home buyer programs. Talk about a good investment in the future, huh?

The Finance 101 course could be great. I hope that it succeeds as a pilot program and quickly spreads around the rest of the state and the nation. The more people know about money, the better off they’ll be in this world.

It’s called a “gap year.” And while it’s been a common and popular rite of passage in Australia and the U.K. for decades, the concept is now starting to gain significant steam here in America.

A gap year, huh? Lump me into that portion of the American public who went to nursery school, then immediately to preschool, then immediately to grade school, then immediately to high school, then immediately to college, then immediately to graduate school, and then immediately into the full-time workforce. I started my education at 2 years old and I finished it (for the time being) at age 25. No “gap” year for me…or most of the people that I know, quite frankly. More from the article:

A growing number of high school seniors are balking at riding the academic conveyer belt from preschool all the way to university. They’re burnt out. Or not quite ready. Or they want to explore a few interests before deciding what to study in college. So instead of packing their bags in anticipation of freshman year, they’re volunteering in New Orleans or teaching in Thailand. They’re starting the great American novel, or interning to help figure out what they want to do with their lives.

I love it!

What a brilliant idea, if you can afford it. Using hindsight as 20/20, I would have loved to travel for a little bit before going to college or before going to graduate school. Of course, I couldn’t do that before graduate school because if you don’t go back to school, then you have to start paying back your loans. However, taking a year off before college to do something else would have been a good idea – especially this idea of trying to get an internship or two in the off year. Good thinking.

I would have loved that internship idea because honestly, at 27 years old, I’m not entirely sure that my current field is one that I want to stay in for the long-term. Anyway, this is an interesting idea and I wish that there was some data to show that taking a year off after high school provided a net benefit for the student. I’m also lured by the idea of a “gap” year where you have no “real world” responsibilities! I was just telling one of my roommates that once I pay off my student loans and all other major outstanding debts AND I put aside enough money to live a scant life off of the interest, it has always been my plan to either take a sabbatical from my job or leave the workforce for about a year. Again, I’ve never really had a “break” from school or athletics or work and I’m not willing to wait until I’m 67 for my first long-term vacation!

But I have to get there first… Wish me luck!