Paying Kids' Tuition May Backfire on Parents

Parents who pay for their kid's college tuition may think they're doing junior a big favor: He'll be able to skip a part-time job and focus on academics, right? Not so much, suggests a new study picked up by Forbes. Sociologists found that students who paid their own way, or most of it, got better grades. Those whose parents picked up the entire bill tended to party more, not study more.

“It’s not that all money is bad,” says the lead researcher. “The problem is how the money is given.” Parents need to lay out clear expectations and make clear that the money will stop if performance is lousy, just like in the real world. And even kids who don't have to pay a cent toward tuition should get a job or work-study position for up to 10 hours a week, she suggests. It "may change the tenor of what they're doing at school." (More college stories.)