THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR COLLEGE

There’s no consumer decision that inspires more confusion and emotion than the question of what to pay for college. Once admission and aid offers are in, parents and students 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, how do parents reckon with the guilt, fear, aspiration and snobbery that inevitably invade our minds in the process?

 

Drawing from his new book, The Price You Pay for College, Ron Lieber shares the questions he poses to college presidents that families don’t know (or are afraid) to ask and pulls the curtain back on how schools set their prices. He helps families navigate the value proposition by summarizing the existing research and bringing context and clarity to what matters and what doesn’t in making a financially-savvy college choice.

​

About Our Speakers

  

Ron Lieber, a best-selling personal finance and parenting writer and veteran business reporter, has been the “Your Money” columnist for The New York Times since 2008. He is the author of four books focused on the development of good values and smart financial habits, including The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money and Upstart Start-Ups, for young entrepreneurs. Lieber’s latest book, The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make is the culmination of 15 years of personal finance reporting for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.  He is a recipient of the Gerald Loeb Award, business journalism’s highest honor, in the personal finance category. He previously worked for Fortune and Fast Company magazines.

​

Katherine Georgiev is the Principal of Presentation High School. She joined the Presentation faculty in 2008 and previously served as a full-time teacher in the school’s Social Studies department, the Leadership Academy Director and Vice Principal of Student Activities. Prior to becoming Principal, Georgiev also served as Vice Principal of Academics, overseeing curriculum, instruction, and technology at Presentation while continuing to teach in the Social Studies department.