Hidden Tuition - by Phillip B Levine (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The secret economics of maximizing college financial aid (and why it's not as miserable as you think).

In the college admissions process, a terrifying unknown looms large: How much is this really going to cost? For prospective students and their families, there's no easy answer. While college prices continue to rise, so do their promises of financial aid for qualified students. But who qualifies? And for how much? How can this monumental life decision be so utterly impossible to understand?

Hidden Tuition is an insider's guide for navigating college financial aid to maximum effect and with (relatively) minimal pain. Economist and financial-aid expert Phillip B. Levine draws on his unique experience--including years of research in higher-education finance and work alongside admissions and financial-aid departments--to help readers first identify, then minimize, what they'll actually pay for different types of colleges based on their circumstances. With expertise, clarity, and the warmth of someone who's been through it, Levine details how students can find the hidden tuition costs in the opaque landscape of college pricing and financial aid. He explores topics that include:

• Why college's "sticker prices" are rarely what students pay--and how some actual prices are even going down
• The best, worst, and most surprising deals for students with different financial resources
• How to navigate financial aid for divorced and multi-residence households
• Who really benefits from early decision
• How the nature of scholarships and merit-based aid is often framed in misleading ways
• The pros and cons of college savings accounts
• When and how to get started on college financing
• Why all student loans aren't the same (or aren't all that bad)

Debunking common myths and offering practical guidance for both families and individual students, Hidden Tuition makes a maddeningly imperfect process more manageable--and gives students a clearer path through one of life's biggest financial decisions towards collegiate success.

Review Quotes

"Hidden Tuition is a must read for students, families, and college counselors who want to know what it is going to cost to go to college. It just shouldn't be that hard to find out, but it is. This book helps cut through all the jargon to answer this question, and does it with both clarity and humor, a significant challenge when talking about financial aid."

--Catharine Bond Hill President Emerita, Vassar College

"I've spent years helping families navigate college admissions, but Hidden Tuition made me rethink how I explain the money side of it. Levine has done what no one else could: turned an economist's brain into a parent's handbook. I'll never talk about college pricing the same way again."

--Jeffrey Selingo bestselling author of "Dream School" and "Who Gets In and Why"

"Levine has spent years helping students and families make sense of college pricing and financial aid, both through his research and through tools like MyinTuition that put real numbers in front of real families. Hidden Tuition builds on that by demystifying the college pricing system, which too often confuses families, especially those who need it most. A useful book, written with clarity and care."

--Justin Draeger Senior Vice President, Affordability, Strada Education Foundation, Past President and CEO, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA)

About the Author

Phillip B. Levine is the Katharine Coman and A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics at Wellesley College. He is author of A Problem of Fit: How the Complexity of College Pricing Hurts Students--and Universities. He has contributed to TheNew York Times, TheWashington Post, TheBoston Globe, Time, and Slate, and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, ABC News Nightline, and NPR's All Things Considered.