EducationDynamics Offers Tips to Manage the Changing Tide of Parent-Student Relationships When Students Return Home for the Holidays

HOBOKEN, NJ--(Marketwire - December 9, 2008) - With curfews no longer in place, a new social life and a fresh sense of independence, college can serve as a turning point for parent-student relationships, a relational shift that becomes largely apparent when students return home for the holidays. Colleges and universities can help parents better navigate their child's return home by offering proven advice provided by EducationDynamics, higher education's leading marketing provider dedicated to helping institutions find, enroll and retain students.

Recognizing that parents are more involved than ever before in the lives of their students, EducationDynamics offers a suite of programs designed specifically to help institutions build strong alliances with parents. As holiday student homecomings loom, the provision of information pertaining to relationship management between parents and their freshly independent children gains particular importance. EducationDynamics provides several strategies that colleges and universities can offer parents to help them better manage the changing relational dynamic with their student while home for the holidays:

1. Ease curfew restrictions. Parents should remember that their child has been making his or her own choices, and should not expect their child to return to pre-college curfew expectations.

2. Give students time to catch up with friends. Spending time with high school friends is an important component of a student's return home. Additionally, parents should recognize that their child may want time to him or herself.

3. Curb the parental instinct to worry. A parent's natural impulse is to be concerned about their child. However, this behavior can be interpreted by students as mistrust or a lack of confidence. Parents should reinforce their confidence in their son or daughter as they express their concerns.

4. Expect change. It is natural and inevitable that college students, as well as the parents they leave at home, will change as a result of their new living situations. Recognizing and accepting these new differences can strengthen the bond parents have with their child.

"EducationDynamics' parent-centric programs seek to keep today's highly-invested parent informed and engaged, providing not only critical campus communications, but also tips on managing the relational aspects between parents and their college students," says Peter Tomassi, senior vice president of product development for the Enrollment and Retention Services Division of EducationDynamics. "Among parents of first-year students, parents participate in EducationDynamics' engagement programs at a rate 30 to 70 percent higher than they do through traditional communications vehicles, such as parent newsletters and email campaigns."

To learn more about how universities can help parents stage drama-free student homecomings and manage the changing dynamics of the parent-student relationship, contact Tracy Howe by phone at 201.377.3318 or via email.

About EducationDynamics

EducationDynamics, a portfolio company of Halyard Capital, is the leading marketing and information services company dedicated to helping higher education institutions find, enroll and retain students. Its content-rich and highly visible education websites, including EarnMyDegree.com, eLearners.com, GradSchools.com, StudyAbroad.com and its more than 50 special interest microsites, make EducationDynamics the premier provider of qualified prospective students for colleges and universities. In addition, the company offers a full suite of Web-delivered services proven to drive enrollment growth and reduce student attrition. For more information, visit http://www.educationdynamics.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Nikki Martin 303.433.7020