- Author: Murray Sperber
- Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, 352 pages
What should anyone really expect from going to college? What's it all about—celebrating college sports or investing in your financial future? Parents and their college-bound children will find plenty in this thorough exploration of the clashing dynamics between college athletics and a school's academic quality.
I’ve always been eager to debate the merits of athletic scholarships: Should college athletes instead be paid? Are these "student athletes" really getting an education while investing so much time and energy in sports? Do schools’ athletes really represent the broader student body? Sperber’s book questions the impact of college athletics programs on the student body at large. Sperber makes clear that big-time athletics programs can actually hinder schools financially – contrary to the popular notion that sports helps schools fund more noble academic pursuits. He shows how prospective students are often steered wrong from the first time they visit campus, learning about the stadium and gameday atmosphere, or about fraternities and sororities and the social scene, but not about the quality of professors or the library.
Beer and Circus challenges you to think about what you really should expect from going to college. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance editor Janet Bodnar has echoed that sentiment: “Parents aren’t obliged to pay for four years of football weekends, frat parties and beer.”
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Visit the Kiplinger Bookshelf
-
Four Lessons for a Happy, Successful and Wealthy RetirementChristine Benz, Morningstar director of personal finance and retirement planning, explains the key lessons from her book on retiring successfully.
-
What to Expect From Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies in 2025With help from Donald Trump, the cryptocurrency industry is expanding rapidly. Here's what to expect from bitcoin in 2025.
-
529 Plans: A Powerful Way to Tackle Rising Education CostsContributions to 529 plans grow tax-free and are not taxed when they are used to pay for qualified educational expenses for the beneficiary.
-
Five Books About Retirement to Prepare You for Your Golden YearsThese books about retirement will help prepare you for your next stage through fiction and nonfiction. What's more, they are great reads!
-
Are Student Loans Being Forgiven or Not?Student Loans The House and Senate voted to repeal President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, but does it even matter?
-
Are Scholarships Tax-Free?Education Scholarships are generally tax-free if certain IRS and other requirements are met.
-
Student Loan Forgiveness Blocked For Now Due to Court RulingsBiden's student loan debt forgiveness program is on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in.
-
529 Plan Contribution Deadlines529 Plans Many states have year-end deadlines for making 529 college savings plan contributions.
-
3 Key Ways You Can Help a Child or Grandchild Pay for Collegecollege Options such as 529 plans, education savings accounts and tax-free gifts can ensure you don’t carry a child’s student loan debt into your golden years.
-
Borrowers Over 50 With Student Loan DebtPaying for College Millions of borrowers 50 and older are struggling to repay loans for themselves and their children, some delaying retirement. There’s a trick, though, to help with repayment.
