Colleges vs. "Helicopter Parents"

While colleges may have a valid point about students needing to learn to be independent adults and solve problems, it seems to me that a very big issue is glossed over in this article -- colleges resent parents holding them accountable, but simply want parents to keep cutting those checks for $40,000+ per year, no questions asked.

One also tends to wonder if some colleges are concerned about students being more separated from parents so the colleges can more successfully indoctrinate the students into the left-wing thinking so common on campus. I attended a college night for several Southern California colleges last night which was a real eye-opener, in and of itself.

As for the comment "You add a $40,000 price tag for a school...and you have high expectations for what you get"...well, duh! Perhaps the colleges have brought this "problem" on themselves to an extent by charging the cost of a home for a college education for a single child.

As a parent who will have a child in college in another year, I certainly expect a college to be responsive to its consumers. Unfortunately the "We know best, send us your taxes or tuition checks but don't ask questions" attitude too often pervades formal education at all levels: schools want parents to participate when it benefits the school, but don't want parents to ask pesky questions. And at the college level this attitude can be masked with the mantra "You're not letting your child become independent."