My wife and I are financing our granddaughter’s college education. She has spent the last two years enjoying the social life at her sorority and traveling to vacation spots. Her GPA is poor and she has had to repeat two courses.
Do we have a right to say she must maintain a better GPA, or we will consider withdrawing our financial assistance?
Dear Granddad: You sure do! Firstly, it’s your money and you have the right to do what you want with it. The tuition payments may be a gift presented without strings, but there are still plenty of reasonable expectations that come with a college education. She’s not meeting the college’s expectations in some ways – and is suffering the consequences. It’s fair to have a recalibrating conversation with her and her parents.The conversation will go best if you keep the focus on establishing a reasonable shared set of goals that can be achieved by the combination of your funds and her efforts.
Ask her what she wants to accomplish in college. If she’s not engaged with her major or her classes and, therefore, not doing the work or not performing well, it’s not worth her time or your money. She may need more guidance about how to best make college work for her. It’s not always a plug-and-play situation.
Consider finding other metrics of success in addition to GPA. Obviously, her grades are important but they’re not the only way of determining if she’s making the most of her college education. Include her in naming some other metrics, as well. Her failure to lock in may be a sign of immaturity; this is natural. Being challenged to play a more active role in her education and her own success is a great way of building skills that will benefit her as she steps further into adulthood.
Real Life of an MSW 