Ron Lieber

The list price at dozens of colleges will pass $100,000 per year in the next few years. Already, those schools will cost you over $1 million in pre-tax income to pay for two kids over eight years. So when, if ever, does it make sense to pay that much for an undergraduate education?

Here, Ron walks parents through the four main reasons most people go to college, without ever articulating them out loud or weighing them against one another. He describes the three emotions that lead families astray and persuade them to spend more rather than less. Then, he tells the tale of how pricing got so complicated – and why people with eight-figure net worths often get six-figure discounts while lower-income families can’t afford many schools.