Congratulations!  Your college student has worked hard, you’ve stood by and supported him, and he’s almost made it to the finish line.  Commencement is around the corner.  But what if he’s almost there, but not quite?  Does that mean that participating in graduation ceremonies is out of the question?  Or that he’ll need to wait another year?  The answer is — that depends.  It depends on what your student still has left to do, and it depends on the college or university policy.

Each college establishes its own policy regarding who may participate in commencement ceremonies.  Some institutions will allow students to participate if they are within a very few credits of completion, and other schools will not allow students to participate until they have completed all requirements.  In some cases, it may depend on how soon the next ceremony may be.  Schools that have only one graduation ceremony a year, rather than an additional summer or winter ceremony, may be more willing to allow a student to participate if he is close to finishing.  Most likely, a student would need to be within three to six credits of completing his degree.

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As parents, we want the best for our children.  We want them to succeed.  When our children become college students, the definition of success is sometimes more elusive.  We want our students to receive good grades.  We want our students to feel good about themselves.  We want our students to make friends and have a fulfilling social life.  We want our students to be able to get a job after graduation.

It may seem as though taking difficult or hard courses might not be the best choice for your student.  Hard courses take a lot of time.  Hard courses can be frustrating.  Hard courses may not boost your student’s GPA.  But there are some compelling reasons why taking some of those more difficult courses may benefit your student in many important ways.

Of course, your student needs to keep their schedule in balance and needs to keep everything in perspective. Taking all difficult courses, or all easy courses, does not make a balanced schedule.  And one student’s definition of difficult is another student’s easy course.  Knowing their own strengths and learning style is helpful.  But with all of this in mind, here are eight reasons why a few difficult courses can benefit your student.

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