college essay computer stickers

Personal Essay Sample: Stickers on My Laptop

My laptop is like a passport. It is plastered with stickers all over the outside, inside, and bottom. Each sticker is a stamp, representing a place I've been, a passion I've pursued, or community I've belonged to. These stickers make for an untraditional first impression at a meeting or presentation, but it's one I'm proud of. Let me take you on a quick tour:

"We < 3 Design," bottom left corner. Art has been a constant for me for as long as I can remember. Today my primary engagement with art is through design. I've spent entire weekends designing websites and social media graphics for my companies. Design means more to me than just branding and marketing; it gives me the opportunity to experiment with texture, perspective, and contrast, helping me refine my professional style.

"Common Threads," bottom right corner. A rectangular black and red sticker displaying the theme of the 2017 TEDxYouth@Austin event. For years I've been interested in the street artists and musicians in downtown Austin who are so unapologetically themselves. As a result, I've become more open-minded and appreciative of unconventional lifestyles. TED gives me the opportunity to help other youth understand new perspectives, by exposing them to the diversity of Austin where culture is created, not just consumed.

Poop emoji, middle right. My 13-year-old brother often sends his messages with the poop emoji 'echo effect,' so whenever I open a new message from him, hundreds of poops elegantly cascade across my screen. He brings out my goofy side, but also helps me think rationally when I am overwhelmed. We don't have the typical "I hate you, don't talk to me" siblinghood (although occasionally it would be nice to get away from him); we're each other's best friends. Or at least he's mine.

"Lol ur not Harry Styles," upper left corner. Bought in seventh grade and transferred from my old laptop, this sticker is torn but persevering with layers of tape. Despite conveying my fangirl-y infatuation with Harry Styles' boyband, One Direction, for me Styles embodies an artist-activist who uses his privilege for the betterment of society. As a $42K donor to the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, a hair donor to the Little Princess Trust, and promoter of LGBTQ+ equality, he has motivated me to be a more public activist instead of internalizing my beliefs.

"Catapult," middle right. This is the logo of a startup incubator where I launched my first company, Threading Twine. I learned that business can provide others access to fundamental human needs, such as economic empowerment of minorities and education. In my career, I hope to be a corporate advocate for the empowerment of women, creating large-scale impact and deconstructing institutional boundaries that obstruct women from working in high-level positions. Working as a women's rights activist will allow me to engage in creating lasting movements for equality, rather than contributing to a cycle that elevates the stances of wealthy individuals.

"Thank God it's Monday," sneakily nestled in the upper right corner. Although I attempt to love all my stickers equally (haha), this is one of my favorites. I always want my association with work to be positive.

And there are many others, including the horizontal, yellow stripes of the Human Rights Campaign; "The Team," a sticker from the Model G20 Economics Summit where I collaborated with youth from around the globe; and stickers from "Kode with Klossy," a community of girls working to promote women's involvement in underrepresented fields.

When my computer dies (hopefully not for another few years), it will be like my passport expiring. It'll be difficult leaving these moments and memories behind, but I probably won't want these stickers in my 20s anyways (except Harry Styles, that's never leaving). My next set of stickers will reveal my next set of aspirations. They hold the key to future paths I will navigate, knowledge I will gain, and connections I will make.

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The Liberty Champion

The official student newspaper of Liberty University

How students display decals on their laptops as a way to show their interests and personality

Stepping into a college library is one of the easiest ways to find the latest student trends. One of Liberty University’s biggest student trends: laptop stickers.

Although most trends appear to set a pattern that trumps the individuality most young adults seek to cultivate, there are many ways students personalize these to fit their own style, and stickers seem to be perfect for this. Typically, students add stickers to their laptops to add a personal touch. 

“I base my sticker choices on things that make me happy,” Anna Kelchner, a Liberty University sophomore, said. “These are things that I want other people (to know) about me when they pass by.” 

These stickers serve as reminders of cherished memories, all-time favorites and personal beliefs or convictions. One look at a college student’s sticker-covered laptop and you can probably tell where they are from, what TV shows they like or what their major is. Besides being the perfect way to showcase one’s personality, stickers also serve decorative purposes and can add a pop of color to any laptop cover. 

“My favorite sticker is one on my laptop that says ABBA,” student Dani Garcia said. “This means ‘Heavenly Father’ and it represents the unashamed love I have for God.” 

Many businesses have caught on to this trend, and often offer free stickers to their customers. This, besides giving others the opportunity to share their favorite restaurants or stores, also serves as a free marketing tool. Liberty offers them to its students as well, and almost every department or degree program has its own personalized stickers to give out at department events or activities. 

Whether the stickers you choose are a direct reflection of who you are and what you like, or simply something you like doing because it enhances the aesthetic of your laptop, they can also serve as conservation starters. Others passing by may be drawn to talk to you because of a sticker they like or something they might think they have in common with you. 

“I have a Florida sticker on my laptop and once a couple stopped to chat with me just (because) they were drawn to it,” Andrea Bosque, a biotech student, said. “Even though I’m from Guatemala, the fact that I had a sticker from Florida gave me the opportunity to meet new people on campus.” 

There are several online sites that provide a large variety of stickers to buy from, the most popular among students being RedBubble. This site also gives the option to upload designs for sale. There are also other sites that offer big quantities for lower prices. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re a baseball or a football fan, a gamer or a bookworm, a Republican or a Democrat, there is most certainly a sticker that will make your laptop cover better represent you. 

Elias is a feature writer. You can follow her on Twitter here .

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Sticking to a Story: Laptop Stickers Foster Self-Expression On Campus

Each sticker is personal to the computer user. Students often have explanations for what they choose to reveal through the ornaments decorating their laptops.

Glancing around classrooms, Damen’s common area or even a grassy quad, open laptops can be seen with a population of stickers adorning them. Computers have become a college essential and choosing to decorate them with stickers has become the status quo at Loyola. 

Senior psychology major Zoey Zanowski cherishes her cow head sticker because it reminds her of her hometown in Wisconsin. She plans on getting a tattoo to match her sticker to always remind her of home. 

With a minor in women and gender studies, Zanowski says her studies inspired her “female body is beautiful” and “intersectional feminism is the only feminism” stickers on the top right and and left of her laptop. She’s in the Women In Leadership club at Loyola and is passionate about feminism and women’s rights.

Zanowski’s most original sticker is the monochromatic sketch of a eyeless woman driving a car. The sticker’s mysterious significance makes it stand out on the senior’s laptop.

“My older siblings’ friend actually made the drawing and I bought it at our high school art fair,” Zanowski said.“I just think art is a great expression of personality.”

Senior Libby Prosch, is proud of her “Growing Our Collective Power” sticker which depicts animated fruits with faces. The sticker was given to Prosch for her donation and participation in March For Our Lives , an activist group that attempts to bring awareness to gun violence. 

Prosch said she had outgrown some of her stickers. She points out her “Vote Igor” sticker.

“I was really into Tyler, the Creator freshman year,” the political science and Spanish double major said. 

Similarly, sophomore C.J. Leet said not all of her stickers were representative of her anymore. She points out a sticker depicting a “Superbad” scene with Evan (Michael Cera) saying, “Here’s to respecting women.”

“I’ve had the same laptop since I was 14,” Leet said, “Superbad is my indulgent movie now but I still agree with Michael Cera.”

The Medieval Torture Museum sticker commemorates Leet’s first visit to North State Street attraction. The museum features reenactments of the most cruel torture styles with mannequins, as well as chances to “experience” being tortured and torturing.

“I loved it so much, I went back again,” Leet said. “It’s really cool if you like messed up stuff.”

Junior biology major Neil Lagatao finds his stickers remain accurate to his current interests. The quote, “and the universe said i love you because you are love” overlaps ghost stickers on the right side of the laptop. 

“It’s from Minecraft, when you finish the game,” Lagatao said. “I thought it was pretty cool for a block game for kids.”

The Minecraft flowers beneath it give a subtle hint about the quote’s origins. 

A blue-tinted drawing of the character Yatora Yaguchi from Lagatao’s favorite manga “Blue Period” sits on the front of his laptop. The manga focuses on a character who is lost in life until finding his passion for art.

“I just find it really motivating,” Lagatao said. “It helps me get through school and my own life.” 

Benjamin Payne has a more effortless approach to choosing his stickers. The sophomore transferred to Loyola from Denison University, which explains his contradicting university sticker. He finds the best way to arrange and choose stickers is to “not think too much about it,” which he said has worked for him for the two years he’s owned his laptop.

His stickers also represent all the states he’s lived in. The “Give ‘em a BRAKE” sticker is a memento from his move from Washington to Minnesota, while his “Clutch Brewing Company” documents his time in Minnesota. 

Natalie Braga, a sophomore majoring in criminal justice and global studies, says her computer stickers tell a true tale of her past three years. Braga’s laptop features her political interests like her “my body my choice” sticker which she put on following the overturning of Roe v. Wade .

Braga said her Twilight, Glee and One Direction stickers still represent her today despite having them for a while. Towards the bottom of her laptop, sits a red and white drawing of two ladies whispering.

“My mom always had those vintage satire magnets and she got me the ‘all the cool kids are Directioners’ sticker,” Braga said. These magnets typically feature a picture of a 50’s housewife with a funny quote, and Braga’s sticker is a spinoff of those she said.

Her most important sticker is her blue heart, which is the logo of the Sawyer Woods Scholarship Foundation created for her friend that passed away. 

“She was on the same gymnastics team that I was, and having this sticker continues to remind me of her,” Braga said. 

The foundation collects donations in order to assist families with costs for gymnastics classes. By filling out an application and being accepted, a scholarship will be awarded to cover the expenses of any gymnastics program, for any age. They also have merchandise that goes towards the fund such as t-shirts and the sticker that Braga proudly displays on her laptop.

Featured graphic drawn by Hanna Houser | The Phoenix.

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The official news site of the College of Charleston.

How students communicate with laptop stickers.

by Kelsey Baum

While walking under the Spanish moss throughout the College of Charleston campus – and maybe even doing the “Charleston-shuffle” on a brick or two – something new and colorful stands out on the periphery. You’ll see students sporting them outside Addlestone Library on Rivers Green, on the couches and in the study nooks of the Stern Center, and propped on the desks in most classrooms: Laptop stickers are the latest craze, and they’re not just for dressing up those sleek grey Macs. Laptop stickers enable students to express their individuality, and they can also help connect classmates with similar interests.    

Formerly bare and identical-looking, student laptops are now covered from top to bottom with stickers or “skins” that resonate with students. Stickers seen around campus call out everything from niche TV shows and movie references to local stores and coffee shop logos and even life mottos. You might even see all of these categories on one laptop. Some sport just a few carefully selected stickers, while others choose to plaster their laptops without leaving a sliver of blank space.

So what’s with all the stickers? And  what is their significance from a sociological perspective?  The College Today sought out some faculty and students to help answer these questions.

Idee Winfield , a professor of sociology at the College, suggests that our society’s shift to digital media has changed the way we present ourselves to others. Developing an online presence on social media is one way of forming a public identity, but there is also something to be said about the way we decorate the outside of our laptops.

“ Laptop stickers are not just an expression of our personal identity, but a way in which we selectively communicate to others,” says Winfield. “The stickers allow us to make an impression on others without actually saying anything, which is similar to how the clothes we wear shape our sense of identity.”

Winfield categorizes the sticker phenomenon within Impression Management Theory – a sociological theory that explains how we attempt to control the way others perceive us to align with our personal goals. The specific stickers that we place on our laptops portray the identity we want others to associate us with.

“People are less likely to strike up conversation with others on the street because so much of life is mediated through the internet,” Winfield says. “Students use laptop stickers because they want them to say something to others.”

Noah Albertsen , a senior majoring in computing in the arts and minoring in Italian studies , says most of his laptop stickers were initially purchased without the intent of placing them on his laptop.

“From the stickers that I had, I chose them based on my opinion of the brand or message expressed by the sticker,” Albertsen says, citing his “Proud to be a Democrat,” “Grand Canyon” and “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams” stickers as examples of topics that resonate with him.

In addition to personality representation, students have also found that laptop stickers give them a chance to interact with other students in a rather unconventional way. Ashley Collins , a senior English major , has found that being able to constantly switch up her laptop stickers helps reflect her changing interests and find commonalities with other students.

“The stickers are a great way to remind yourself that we’re all sharing interests and values, reminding me we’re all more similar than we are different,” Collins says. “They’re also great conversation-starters for college kids particularly, and you never know what sticker might introduce you to a new friend!”

While the longevity of laptop stickers remains to be seen, we can be certain that they’ve already changed the way CofC students express themselves and connect with their classmates. So the next time you decide to put a sticker on your laptop, consider what message you are trying to project about yourself. Most importantly, be proud of what interests you, even if it’s unpopular or unique, because you never know who else might think the same way as you.

Kelsey Baum is a senior from New Jersey studying Communication and Italian Studies at the College of Charleston. She is also a member of the Martin Scholars Program and a freelance writer for Her Campus.

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A History of Moscow in 13 Dishes

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Moscow-City: 7 surprising facts about the Russian capital’s business center

1. Guinness World Record in highlining

The record was set in 2019 by a team of seven athletes from Russia, Germany, France and Canada. They did it on September 8, on which the ‘Moscow-City Day’ is celebrated. The cord was stretched at the height of 350 m between the ‘OKO’ (“Eye”) and ‘Neva Towers’ skyscrapers. The distance between them is 245 m. The first of the athletes to cross was Friede Kuhne from Germany. The athletes didn't just walk, but also performed some daredevil tricks. Their record is 103 meters higher than the previous one set in Mexico City in December 2016.

2. Domination of Europe's top-10 highest skyscrapers

7 out of 10 Europe’s highest skyscrapers are located in Moscow-City. Earlier, the  ‘Federation Tower’ complex’s ‘Vostok’ (“East”) skyscraper was the considered the tallest in Europe.

Left to right: the lower of the ‘Neva Towers’ (296 m), Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt (300 m), Gorod Stolits (“City of Capitals”) Moscow tower (302 m), Eurasia tower (309 m), The Shard’ skyscraper in London (310 m), Mercury City Tower (339 m), Neva Towers (345 m).

However, in 2018, the construction of the 462 meter tall ‘Lakhta Center’ in Saint-Petersburg was completed, pushing ‘Vostok’ (374 m) into 2nd place. The 3rd place is taken by OKO’s southern tower (354 m).

3. The unrealized ‘Rossiya’ tower

If all the building plans of Moscow-City were realized, the ‘Lakhta Center’ in St. Petersburg wouldn't have a chance to be Europe's highest skyscraper. Boris Tkhor, the architect who designed the concept of Moscow-City, had planned for the ‘Rossiya’ tower to be the tallest. In his project, it was a 600 meter tall golden cylindrical skyscraper ending with a spire that was inspired by traditional Russian bell towers. Then, the project was reinvented by famous British architect Sir Norman Foster. He had designed ‘Rossiya’ as a pyramid ending with a spire. The skyscraper itself would have been 612 meters tall, and the height including the spire would have reached 744,5 meters (for comparison, the ‘Burj Khalifa’ in Dubai, UAE, would have been just 83,5 meters taller). Unfortunately, the investors faced a lot of economic problems, due to the 2008 financial crisis, so the ‘Rossiya’ skyscraper was never built. A shopping mall and the ‘Neva Towers’ complex was constructed at its place in 2019.

4. Changed appearance of ‘Federation Tower’

In its first project, the ‘Federation Tower’ was designed to resemble a ship with a mast and two sails. The mast was to be represented by a tall glass spire with passages between the towers. It was planned to make a high-speed lift in it. The top of the spire was going to be turned into an observation deck. But the ship lost its mast in the middle of its construction. Experts at the Moscow-city Museum based in the ‘Imperia’ (“Empire”) tower say, that the construction of the spire was stopped, firstly, due to fire safety reasons and secondly, because it posed a threat to helicopter flights – the flickering glass of the spire could potentially blind the pilots. So, the half-built construction was disassembled. However, an observation deck was opened in the ‘Vostok’ tower.

5. Open windows of ‘Federation Tower’

We all know that the windows of the upper floors in different buildings don’t usually open. Experts say that it’s not actually for people’s safety. Falling from a big height is likely to be fatal in any building. The actual reason is the ventilation system. In a skyscraper, it’s managed with a mechanical system, and the building has its own climate. But in the ‘Zapad’ (“West”) tower of the ‘Federation Tower’ complex, the windows can open. The 62nd and last floor of the tower are taken up by a restaurant called ‘Sixty’. There, the windows are equipped with a special hydraulic system. They open for a short period of time accompanied by classical music, so the guests can take breathtaking photos of Moscow.

6. Broken glass units of ‘Federation Tower’

The guests of the ‘Sixty’ restaurant at the top of the ‘Zapad’ tower can be surprised to see cracked glass window panes. It is particularly strange, if we take into consideration the special type of this glass. It is extremely solid and can’t be broken once installed. For example, during experiments people threw all sorts of heavy items at the windows, but the glass wouldn’t break. The broken glass units of ‘Zapad’ were already damaged during shipment . As each of them is curved in its own way to make the tower’s curvature smooth, making a new set of window panes and bringing them to Russia was deemed too expensive . Moreover, the investors had financial problems (again, due to the 2008 financial crisis), so the ‘Vostok’ tower even stood unfinished for several years. Eventually, the cracked window panes were installed in their place.

7. The highest restaurant in Europe

‘Birds’, another restaurant in Moscow-City, is remarkable for its location. It was opened at the end of 2019 on the 84th floor of the ‘OKO’ complex’s southern tower. Guests at the restaurant can enjoy an amazing panoramic view at a height of 336 meters. On January 28, the experts of ‘Kniga Recordov Rossii’ (“Russian Records Book”) declared ‘Birds’ the highest restaurant in Europe, a step toward an application for a Guinness World Record.

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Some Colleges Will Soon Charge $100,000 a Year. How Did This Happen?

Some Vanderbilt students will have $100,000 in total expenses for the 2024-25 school year. The school doesn’t really want to talk about it.

By Ron Lieber

Reporting from Vanderbilt University in Nashville

It was only a matter of time before a college would have the nerve to quote its cost of attendance at nearly $100,000 a year. This spring, we’re catching our first glimpse of it.

Listen to this article with reporter commentary

Open this article in the New York Times Audio app on iOS.

One letter to a newly admitted Vanderbilt University engineering student showed an all-in price — room, board, personal expenses, a high-octane laptop — of $98,426. A student making three trips home to Los Angeles or London from the Nashville campus during the year could hit six figures.

This eye-popping sum is an anomaly. Only a tiny fraction of college-going students will pay anything close to this anytime soon, and about 35 percent of Vanderbilt students — those who get neither need-based nor merit aid — pay the full list price.

But a few dozen other colleges and universities that reject the vast majority of applicants will probably arrive at this threshold within a few years. Their willingness to cross it raises two questions for anyone shopping for college: How did this happen, and can it possibly be worth it?

Who Pays What

According to the College Board, the average 2023-24 list price for tuition, fees, housing and food was $56,190 at private, nonprofit four-year schools. At four-year public colleges, in-state students saw an average $24,030 sticker price.

That’s not what many people pay, though, not even close. As of the 2019-20 school year, according to federal data that the College Board used in a 2023 report , 39 percent of in-state students attending two-year colleges full time received enough grant aid to cover all of their tuition and fees (though not their living expenses, which can make getting through school enormously difficult). At four-year public schools, 31 percent paid nothing for tuition and fees while 18 percent of students at private colleges and universities qualified for the same deal.

Those private colleges continue to provide hefty discounts for people of all sorts of incomes. A National Association of College and University Business Officers study showed private nonprofit colleges and universities lowering their tuition prices by 56 percent from the rack rate during the 2022-23 school year.

Vanderbilt provides discounts, too, and its financial aid is extraordinarily generous. This year, it announced that families with income of $150,000 or less would pay no tuition in most instances .

Still, over 2,000 students there who get no need-based or merit aid will soon pay $100,000 or more. Why does Vanderbilt need all of that money?

Where the Money Goes

At a few small liberal arts colleges with enormous endowments, even $100,000 would not cover the average cost of educating a student, according to the schools. Williams College says it spends roughly $50,000 more per student than its list price, for instance.

In other words, everyone is getting a subsidy. Perhaps its list price should be over $100,000, too, so that its endowment is not offering unneeded help to wealthy families. Or, perhaps, a price that high would scare away low-income applicants who do not realize that they might get a free ride there.

According to Vanderbilt, its spending per undergraduate is $119,000. “The gap between the price and cost of attendance is funded by our endowment and the generous philanthropy of donors and alumni,” Brett Sweet, vice chancellor for finance, said in an emailed statement.

No one at the school would meet with me to break this figure down or get on the phone to talk about it. But Vanderbilt’s financial statements offer clues to how it spends money. In the 2023 fiscal year, 52 percent of its operating expenses went to faculty, staff and student salaries and wages, plus fringe benefits.

Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman, two academics who wrote “ Why Does College Cost So Much? ,” explained in their book why labor costs were so tricky at these institutions.

“The critical factors are that higher education is a personal service, that it has not experienced much labor-saving productivity growth, and that the wages of the highly educated workers so important at colleges and universities have soared,” they said. “These are economywide factors. They have little to do with any pathology in higher education.”

Critics of the industry still believe that a kind of administrative bloat has set in, driving up tuition with outsize salaries. But what is bloat, really?

Administrators oversee compliance, like the laws that have made it possible for disabled people to get to and through college and keep schools from discriminating against women. If we don’t like regulation, we can vote for different legislators.

Similarly, families in a free market can make alternative choices if they want fewer mental health practitioners and their bosses, computer network administrators, academic advisers or career counselors. And yet the first (prescreened) question that Vanderbilt’s chancellor, Daniel Diermeier, answered on family weekend this past fall was about whether Vanderbilt should invest even more in career advising in the wake of the school’s five-spot decline in the annual U.S. News rankings .

Is It Worth It?

If many families are not exactly lining up for a cut-rate residential undergraduate education, they’re still asking plenty of good questions about value. So is a $400,000 college education ever worth it?

It depends, and you knew that answer was coming, right?

Most college shoppers wonder about income outcomes, and it’s possible to search by undergraduate major on the federal government’s College Scorecard website . This program-level data exists for alumni who are four years out from graduation, though only for those who received any federal financial aid.

Vanderbilt’s biomedical/medical engineering majors have median earnings of $94,340 four years out. English language and literature majors are earning $53,767.

Those are fine results, but are they exclusive to Vanderbilt? “You could get an engineering degree at a state flagship university that’s just as valuable as something you’d get at Vanderbilt,” said Julian Treves , a financial adviser and college specialist whose newsletter tipped me off to the goings-on there.

I spent a few days trying to get Vanderbilt’s vice provost for university enrollment affairs, Douglas L. Christiansen , to talk to me and answer these questions squarely and more expansively, but I did not succeed. A university spokeswoman sent me some generalities in his name. “We are committed to excellence at all levels, from the quality of our faculty, programming, facilities and research labs to the services we provide to support the academic, emotional and social well-being of our students,” went the statement.

In anticipation of the absence of a substantive reply, I attended a group information session for 125 or so prospective students and asked there, too. The senior admissions officer who took the question refused to answer. I’d never seen that before, and I’ve been to these sessions at dozens of schools over the years.

But really, why should an actor in a competitive marketplace answer that question if the person doesn’t absolutely have to? Without publicly available, industrywide quantitative data on quality — happiness scores, customer satisfaction, measures of learning, return on friendship, the strength of career networks — the list price alone serves as a signal of excellence, to some shoppers at least.

And thousands of applicants respond to the signal each year by volunteering to pay the list price, even as the school rejects the vast majority of applicants. Or maybe they volunteer precisely because Vanderbilt and schools like it reject the vast majority of applicants.

So a $100,000 list price is not our highest-priority outrage. The spectacle of wealthy people freely purchasing luxury services is nothing new, even if it is a totally worthy object of scrutiny (and an understudied phenomenon by academics themselves, ahem).

What is a problem, then? Brent Joseph Evans , an associate professor of public policy and higher education at Vanderbilt’s college of education and human development, started his career as an admissions officer at the University of Virginia. There, he sold the institution to boarding school students in New England and teenagers in the Appalachian foothills.

The former group might pay $100,000 per year, though many of them won’t get into the Vanderbilts of the world in the first place. They will surely find their way somewhere.

But that latter group? Professor Evans is worried about their access to any school at all.

“We should care about whether they get into a state university system at a low cost and find a well-paying career that can keep them in the middle class,” he said. “I do think that sometimes any tension over what elite colleges are doing moves us away from what we should be caring about as a society.”

Read by Ron Lieber

Audio produced by Parin Behrooz .

An earlier version of this article misstated the surname of Vanderbilt’s vice provost for university enrollment affairs. He is Douglas L. Christiansen, not Christensen.

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Ron Lieber has been the Your Money columnist since 2008 and has written five books, most recently “The Price You Pay for College.” More about Ron Lieber