{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062867318?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"0062867318","authors":["Ron Lieber"],"book_id":"9780062867315","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/the-price-you-pay-for-college-9780062867315","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062867315.jpg?v=68ec1ad7c2777f39","description":"Named one of the best books of 2021 by NPR New York Times Bestseller and a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice pick “Masterly . . .represents an extraordinary achievement: It is comprehensive and detailed without being tedious, practical without being banal, impeccably well judged and unusually rigorous.”—Daniel Markovits, New York Times Book Review “Ron Lieber is a gift.”—Scott Galloway The hugely popular New York Times Your Money columnist and author of the bestselling The Opposite of Spoiled offers a deeply reported and emotionally honest approach to the biggest financial decision families will ever make: what to pay for college—a decision made even more confusing because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sending a teenager to a flagship state university for four years of on-campus living costs more than $100,000 in many parts of the United States. Meanwhile, many families of freshmen attending selective private colleges will spend triple—over $300,000. With the same passion, smarts, and humor that infuse his personal finance column, Ron Lieber offers a much-needed roadmap to help families navigate this difficult and often confusing journey. Lieber begins by explaining who pays what and why and how the financial aid system got so complicated. He also pulls the curtain back on merit aid, an entirely new form of discounting that most colleges now use to compete with peers. While price is essential, value is paramount. So what is worth paying extra for, and how do you know when it exists in abundance at any particular school? Is a small college better than a big one? Who actually does the teaching? Given that every college claims to have reinvented its career center, who should we actually believe? He asks the tough questions of college presidents and financial aid gatekeepers that parents don’t know (or are afraid) to ask and summarizes the research about what matters and what doesn’t. Finally, Lieber calmly walks families through the process of setting financial goals, explaining the system to their children and figuring out the right ways to save, borrow, and bargain for a better deal. The Price You Pay for College gives parents the clarity they need to make informed choices and helps restore the joy and wonder the college experience is supposed to represent.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780062867315","publication_date":"20220802","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"the-price-you-pay-for-college","subtitle":"An Entirely New Road Map for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make","title":"The Price You Pay for College"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BUS050010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Budgeting","score":0.7491,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS050030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Managing Your Money","score":0.731,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS050040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Retirement Planning","score":0.7251,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"BUS050010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Budgeting","score":0.7491,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS050030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Managing Your Money","score":0.731,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"BUS050040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Retirement Planning","score":0.7251,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"BUS012000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Career Strategy","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS020000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Business Development","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS024000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Business Education","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS041000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Management","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS050010","confidence_band":"high","label":"Budgeting","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"BUS050030","confidence_band":"high","label":"Managing Your Money","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FAM016000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Family Learning","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"FAM034000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Family & Relationships","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Budgeting","score":0.7491,"slug":"budgeting"},{"label":"Managing Your Money","score":0.731,"slug":"managing-your-money"},{"label":"Retirement Planning","score":0.7251,"slug":"retirement-planning"}],"reader_fit":["Parents planning how to pay for a teenager’s college education","Families weighing college costs, value, savings, and borrowing"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Jeffrey Selingo"],"book_id":"9781668056202","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781668056202.jpg?v=a2fef2a3b8f2242f","score":0.7023,"title":"Dream School","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781668056202"},{"authors":["Ron Lieber"],"book_id":"9780062247025","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062247025.jpg?v=ce09722654b3743b","score":0.6926,"title":"The Opposite of Spoiled","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062247025"},{"authors":["Jeffrey Selingo"],"book_id":"9781982116293","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781982116293.jpg?v=c40960641cf36ff6","score":0.6781,"title":"Who Gets in and Why","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781982116293"},{"authors":["Armen Keteyian","John Talty"],"book_id":"9780063345256","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780063345256.jpg?v=08ca32727ee4adef","score":0.6709,"title":"The Price","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780063345256"},{"authors":["Erin Lowry"],"book_id":"9780143130406","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780143130406.jpg?v=647909ad25970b5e","score":0.6618,"title":"Broke Millennial","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780143130406"},{"authors":["J L Collins"],"book_id":"9798893310474","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9798893310474.jpg?v=c17abb98ec5fc327","score":0.6601,"title":"The Simple Path to Wealth","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9798893310474"},{"authors":["Edward B Fiske","Edward Fiske"],"book_id":"9781464233012","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781464233012.jpg?v=2f29935b62e4aa9b","score":0.6549,"title":"Fiske Guide to Colleges 2026","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781464233012"},{"authors":["Nicole Victoria"],"book_id":"9781642509489","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781642509489.jpg?v=625b78d7a9d806fe","score":0.6537,"title":"More Money Now","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781642509489"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:financial education"],"label":"Education","score":0.0309,"slug":"education"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:guide to personal finance"],"label":"Personal","score":0.0282,"slug":"personal"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: College costs and financial aid, College value, Family financial planning.","Themes: Education, Personal.","Reading lane: Budgeting and Managing Your Money."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.93,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["Parents planning how to pay for a teenager’s college education","Families weighing college costs, value, savings, and borrowing"],"themes":["College costs and financial aid","College value","Family financial planning"],"tropes":[]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":648,"goodreads_ratings_count":2546,"goodreads_reviews_count":341,"quality_score":0.9496}}