Video of the full program on 2/4 (Youtube)
Video of Ron Lieber on WGNtv Morning News on 2/3
Sticker prices at flagship state universities can now top $125,000 for four years of tuition, room and board for state residents. At many selective private colleges, students who began this past fall will pay $300,000. Discounts are available, but the financial aid system that governs them works differently at different schools and can be wildly unpredictable.
Once you have offers of admission and aid, you have to make a decision about value. When does paying an extra $50,000 or $150,000 for one school over another make sense? For a smaller or larger size? For access to professors or guaranteed internships? For an alumni network that is quantifiably stronger than others? And in considering all these questions as parents, how do we reckon with the guilt, fear, aspiration and snobbery that inevitably invade our minds in the process?
Ron Lieber is the author of The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money, which was an instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller when it was released in 2015. Harper Collins will publish “What to Pay for College: An Entirely New Guide to the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make,” in 2020.
Ron has been the “Your Money” columnist for The New York Times since 2008. Before coming to The Times, he wrote the “Green Thumb” personal finance column for The Wall Street Journal and was part of the startup team at the paper’s Personal Journal section.
Ron Lieber will be interviewed by Terry Savage, a nationally recognized expert on personal finance, the economy, and the markets. She writes a weekly personal finance column syndicated in major newspapers by Tribune Content Agency. She is the author of four best-selling books on personal finance. A new edition of her best-selling book, The Savage Truth on Money is now available on Amazon.com. The first edition was named one of the top ten money books of the year by Amazon.com. Her other recent book is: The Savage Number: How Much Money do You Really Need to Retire? She is also co-author of The New Love Deal. She is featured on WGN Radio and WGN-TV in Chicago, with a weekly personal finance segment.
Former GPS speaker Devorah Heitner shares her review of Lieber’s book The Price you pay for college: “Some of you may have read NYT columnist Ron Lieber’s amazing book, The Opposite of Spoiled. He’s back with a timely new book (very timely for my family) called The Price You Pay for College. Here’s what I said on GoodReads after reading an advance copy:
Lieber dissects the confusing mess that parents and aspiring college students find themselves in–finding out the true price of four years (or more!) of college is notoriously hard to do. Turns out, they do this on purpose! Rather than blame yourself, read Ron Lieber’s helpful book to be as informed as possible before diving into the process. Along with Lieber’s trademark wit and insight, the great storytelling and research make this an enjoyable read despite the stressful topic. Lieber’s respect and care for students and their families as consumers and human beings comes through on every page.”
