No-nonsense guide. I feel like a lot of this has been covered in journalism already, but I suppose for some it'll be useful to have all of this information in one place. Nothing wrong with this book, but if you have read deeply in the genre of college guides and problems, you may not find a lot of this information to be as new as you might hope for.

I received a galley copy of Rob Lieber’s The Price You Pay for College and eagerly jumped into reading it. Working in enrollment management, I was anticipating the book’s release and curious how the author would write about paying for college.

Lieber - the longtime New York Times You Money columnist - has written a thorough guide for families approaching the college selection process. Along the way he lays out the various ways families plan - or not - to put for college. There’s plenty of practical advice for families regardless of where they are in the years leading up to college. The writing is clear and compelling. While reading the book I was motivated to start 529 plans for my kids. There’s something in here for everyone and I strongly recommend this book for anyone approaching the college search & selection process.

There is a lot of great information in this book. I really felt like I needed to sit down with it and a highlighter and work my way through it. It revealed options I didn't think we would have for our children and we will be looking into some things we didn't know about yet!

Colleges have quickly become one of the biggest investments a family, and young individuals make during their lifetimes.

The pandemic has shown that most of the universities have turned into glorified degree mills with little real value add for their students. It is not surprising that more and more students are going to college to have that paper certificate while learning everything outside the classroom, mostly on YouTube, for free.

If you are planning to spend a considerable amount of your life savings, it is important to get all kinds of perspective. Are you getting the value for the degree? This book could help find answers to some of those questions.

College decision is expensive, confusing and consequential. Unfortunately not many compelling guides have existed on this topic. Good news - Ron Lieber has written a definitive book on this topic. As a New York Times money columnist, Ron has been following this topic for a while and channelized questions from college bound families covering perspective of both students and parents. It is a worthy follow up to Ron's previous book Opposite of spoiled.

If you have a high schooler thinking about college, this should be your first port of call. That is what i am doing! In fact, we are reading this book as a family and discussing together.

Because of where my children are in their academic careers (junior in college, high school junior, and 7th grader), a fair amount of this information was not new to me. I was glad that he referenced The End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere and overall his information was up-to-date and helpful. If one had to pick a single book to read on the process of planning for college, this is a good choice. My favorite chapter covered gap years.

As the parent of 4 children not yet at college age, the admissions process in very daunting and somewhat scary. The thought of my child choosing a college they love, working their behind off to get in and then not really having any true idea of the price until the end makes the whole process a bit mystifying. This books brings to light everything to do with getting in to college with each chapter devoted to one aspect of the process. A well done book an almost a primer for any parent of a child on the way to college. There is almost too much involved in the process to fully grasp. I plan on rereading this as each child gets close to the application stage as it has so much good information.
Thank you Ron Lieber, Harper for the ARC for my honest review.

This is a must read for high school students interested in pursuing the college path! Our non-profit (which works with high school students) will definitely be adopting some of the principles and helping our students apply them. We'll also add this book to the list of books that students and parents need to check out. It's not your typical college prep, but real insight into the process of college admissions and financial aid!

Amazing book! As a family with a senior in high school who is going through the college application process, I wish we had this book years ago! I read this book on one day....loved the writing style and all of the real world examples (especially enjoyed the FAFSA chapter). Cannot wait to recommend this book by Ron Lieber. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.