How To!

How To Pick a College (And Actually Afford It)


Listen Later

College application season is approaching fast—too fast—for 16-yr old Maya and her mother, Melissa. The problem? Maya has no idea where to go or what to study. It doesn’t help that there are thousands of schools to choose from, and little transparency about their true cost. On this episode of How To!, we bring on Ron Lieber, New York Times money columnist and author of The Price You Pay for College. He shows Maya how to narrow down the list of potential colleges by asking insightful questions of the schools and, ultimately, yourself. Then he talks to Melissa about how to pay for it without harming the rest of the family’s finances. 

Ron’s questions for parents: 

  1. What do you remember your parent or parents saying to you the first time they talked about what college would cost and what, if anything, they would pay?
  2. Or if there was silence around the topic of paying for college, what did it speak?
  3. How much was your parent or your parents willing to pay for your education? How did you feel about that? 
  4. If your parents paid your way, is it possible that you should not feel obligated to do the same, given how much the world has changed?
  5. And if your parents paid nothing, have you asked yourself whether 15 years of extreme thrift starting now (or going deep into debt 15 years from now to pay for your child’s first-choice college) may not erase whatever pain lingers from that period long ago -- or may create new conflict with your spouse and kids?
  6. How much might you be willing to borrow -- or delay repayment of your own student loans?
  7. How long are you willing to delay retirement to meet this goal?

  8. If you liked this episode, check out: “How To Raise a Future College Athlete.” 

    Do you have a question without an answer? Send us a note at [email protected] or leave us a voicemail at 646-495-4001 and we might have you on the show. Subscribe for free on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen.

    Podcast production by Derek John, Rosemary Belson, and Kevin Bendis.  

    If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get an ad-free experience across the network and exclusive content on many shows—you’ll also be supporting the work we do here on How To!. Sign up now at slate.com/howtoplus to help support our work.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    How To!By Slate Podcasts

    • 4.3
    • 4.3
    • 4.3
    • 4.3
    • 4.3

    4.3

    1,923 ratings


    More shows like How To!

    View all
    TED Radio Hour by NPR

    TED Radio Hour

    21,946 Listeners

    Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

    Freakonomics Radio

    32,005 Listeners

    Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

    Hidden Brain

    43,620 Listeners

    Dear Sugars by WBUR

    Dear Sugars

    5,634 Listeners

    Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia by Slate Podcasts

    Whistlestop: Presidential History and Trivia

    1,378 Listeners

    Slate Debates by Slate Podcasts

    Slate Debates

    2,844 Listeners

    Hang Up and Listen by Slate Podcasts

    Hang Up and Listen

    995 Listeners

    Care and Feeding | Slate's parenting show by Slate Podcasts

    Care and Feeding | Slate's parenting show

    1,029 Listeners

    Death, Sex & Money by Slate Podcasts

    Death, Sex & Money

    7,691 Listeners

    Slate News by Slate Podcasts

    Slate News

    5,621 Listeners

    Science Vs by Spotify Studios

    Science Vs

    12,220 Listeners

    TED Health by TED

    TED Health

    1,391 Listeners

    Slate Culture by Slate Podcasts

    Slate Culture

    1,872 Listeners

    Slate Health by Slate Podcasts

    Slate Health

    53 Listeners

    Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia by Slate Podcasts

    Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia

    2,068 Listeners

    What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future by Slate Podcasts

    What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future

    236 Listeners

    Slow Burn by Slate Podcasts

    Slow Burn

    23,889 Listeners

    Choiceology with Katy Milkman by Charles Schwab

    Choiceology with Katy Milkman

    1,421 Listeners

    Slate Presents: One Year by Slate Podcasts

    Slate Presents: One Year

    1,284 Listeners

    Life Kit: Health by NPR

    Life Kit: Health

    439 Listeners

    Life Kit: Money by NPR

    Life Kit: Money

    446 Listeners

    Life Kit by NPR

    Life Kit

    4,749 Listeners

    One Year by Slate Podcasts

    One Year

    1,195 Listeners

    The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos by Pushkin Industries

    The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

    14,261 Listeners

    Culture Gabfest by Slate Podcasts

    Culture Gabfest

    437 Listeners

    Short Wave by NPR

    Short Wave

    6,550 Listeners

    A Slight Change of Plans by Pushkin Industries

    A Slight Change of Plans

    2,005 Listeners

    Hear Me Out by Slate Podcasts

    Hear Me Out

    60 Listeners

    Well, Now by Slate Podcasts

    Well, Now

    48 Listeners

    Navel Gazing by John Dickerson

    Navel Gazing

    98 Listeners

    The Wirecutter Show by The New York Times

    The Wirecutter Show

    1,172 Listeners

    The Law According to Trump by Slate Podcasts

    The Law According to Trump

    6 Listeners

    Standoff: What Happened at Ruby Ridge? by Slate Podcasts

    Standoff: What Happened at Ruby Ridge?

    130 Listeners

    Slate's Audio Book Club by Slate Podcasts

    Slate's Audio Book Club

    0 Listeners

    When We All Get To Heaven by Eureka Street Productions

    When We All Get To Heaven

    1 Listeners