From an Inside Higher Ed article about a study presented at the annual conference of NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education:

"Parents rarely intervened or solved problems for students by contacting the college, but when they did, it was most often for issues regarding financial aid and bill pay. About 24 percent of parents intervened for each reason."

Since the financial interests of colleges and universities don't necessarily align with those of students, a little hovering on the part of parents is probably a good thing.