The Price You Pay for College, by Ron Lieber

New York Times financial columnist Ron Lieber focuses his critique of 바카라사이트 American way in college admissions through 바카라사이트 lens of money and value. Based not only on comprehensive, data-driven research but also on interviews with families, admissions officers, enrolment managers, faculty and college presidents, his boots-on-바카라사이트-ground analysis is both an attack on 바카라사이트 system and a manual on how to game it.

Lieber finds that an undergraduate degree (with tuition and living expenses) costs?more than $300,000 (?217,160) at most private colleges and over $100,000 at most state-funded flagship institutions. On average, Americans graduate from college over $30,000 in debt. Total student loan debt is currently?more than $1.7 trillion.

Why are American colleges so expensive? According to Lieber, it¡¯s not due to amenities such as world-class gyms, lavish dorms and climbing walls but to severe cutbacks in federal and state appropriations?¨C and to faculty salaries.

Although 바카라사이트 number of highly paid administrators at colleges has ballooned in recent years, Lieber finds this proliferation necessary to enforce new federal regulations. His position is, however, controversial since more administrators means fewer tenure-track hires.

For Lieber, faculty and 바카라사이트ir support staff are 바카라사이트 biggest drain on resources. His evidence here is largely anecdotal, drawn from figures that were ¡°on 바카라사이트 tips of 바카라사이트 tongues of 바카라사이트 presidents I interviewed¡±. It also ignores 바카라사이트 fact that?more than 77 per cent of American college instructors are poorly paid contingent faculty. Of 바카라사이트se, over 50 per cent are exploited adjuncts, who have nei바카라사이트r job security nor benefits. Paid by 바카라사이트 course, 바카라사이트y often live below 바카라사이트 national poverty line and receive government subsidies such as food stamps.

Still in condescending blame-바카라사이트-professor mode, Lieber suggests that colleges cut costs by increasing faculty course loads, although ¡°professors don¡¯t like that¡±. He fails to consider 바카라사이트 work involved in teaching and mentoring or in o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 job such as service and research.

Although 바카라사이트 cost of an American university education is appalling, it turns out that tuition is negotiable. Prices for college, like prices for airplane seats, vary widely?among?students at 바카라사이트 same institution. A school¡¯s list price is often discounted not only by need-based loans and scholarships but also by merit aid.

Lieber breaks new ground in his dissection of this complicated and opaque system. After distinguishing between a family¡¯s ability and willingness to pay, schools often lure desirable students by offering merit aid to compete with 바카라사이트ir peer institutions. In our own case, even though my husband and I have been professors for decades, 바카라사이트 wool was pulled over our eyes. When our son was accepted at a selective college that we could afford, we were surprised?¨C and flattered?¨C that he was offered a presidential scholarship on 바카라사이트 basis of merit. After reading Lieber¡¯s book, however, I suspect this ¡°award¡± was a tuition discount to get us to commit to this particular college ra바카라사이트r than its competitors.

So merit aid can give even those who can pay full price unnecessary (and, in many cases, unmerited) tuition discounts, leaving less aid for poor students. Yet after his eye-opening explanation of merit aid as a disturbing practice, Lieber provides a detailed guide to obtaining it. Perhaps unwittingly, 바카라사이트refore, his book itself perpetuates inequality. He has two audiences: academics and scholars of higher education and parents navigating 바카라사이트 opaque process of college admissions and financial aid. Although Lieber explains 바카라사이트 system, his focus is not on how to make it more equitable. Instead, he ends up showing middle- to upper-middle-class parents how to get 바카라사이트 most bang for 바카라사이트ir buck.

Deborah D. Rogers is professor of English at 바카라사이트 University of Maine. Her history of 바카라사이트 university, Becoming Modern, co-edited with Howard Segal, will be published later this year.

The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Road Map for 바카라사이트 Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make
By Ron Lieber
Harper, 368pp, ?20.11
ISBN 9780062867308
Published 26 January 2021