The New York Times 'Your Money' personal finance columnist offers a deeply reported and emotionally honest approach to the biggest financial decision families will ever make: what to pay for college. 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. Many private colleges cost triple that. Lieber helps families navigate this journey, which has been compounded by a global pandemic and the resulting chaos in higher education. He asks the questions most parents don't know (or are afraid) to ask, and summarizes the research about what matters and what doesn't. -- adapted from jacket

Part I.The price and cost of college and the systems behind it -- Part II. The unhelpful feelings you may feel -- Part III. Value: things worth paying for -- Part IV. Money-saving hacks that will tempt you -- Part V. The plans: saving, talking, touring, bargaining, and borrowing.