THROWBACK: COLLEGE PRICE TRANSPARENCY
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Release Date: 10/22/2026
THROWBACK: COLLEGE PRICE TRANSPARENCY
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
When is a price not a price? When the stated retail cost of a year at any college diverges dramatically from what students actually cost, you can’t effectively factor price into your initial college search. Amy and Mike invited educational expert Mark Salisbury to explain the importance of and path to college price transparency. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why isn’t a college’s “sticker price” enough to understand how much a student actually pays? Why do undergraduate financial offers arrive too late to inform college choice? How can a...
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762. CREATING BETTER COLLEGE VISITS
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Choosing a college often entails deciding where you’ll live for the next four to possibly fifty-four years. Why, then, do so many applicants select their new homes without properly evaluating them? Amy and Mike invited student entrepreneur Evan Goldstein to discuss creating better college visits. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Can you truly understand a college without visiting campus? What should every high schooler ask a current college student before committing to a school? What can current college students tell you that admissions offices can’t? How much...
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THROWBACK: FINISHING A FOUR-YEAR DEGREE ON TIME
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
About 66% of American students FAIL to earn their bachelor’s degrees in four years. Yet, those extra years of college come at a tremendous cost. Amy and Mike invited educational consultant Edie Steele to explore the benefits and challenges around finishing a four-year degree on time. What are five things you will learn in this episode? Why does finishing a four-year degree on time matter? What academic issues keep students from finishing college on time? What credit and career planning issues keep students from finishing college on time? What role do or should...
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761. HOW TO WRITE THE COLLEGE ESSAY THAT AI CANNOT
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
In the age of artificial intelligence, more and more communication is crafted by sophisticated models–and it shows. Critical messages should be composed by a person for a person. Amy and Mike invited college essay specialist Barak Rosenbloom to discuss how to write the college essay that AI cannot. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is the consensus view on AI and college essays? What do people—students, adults, professionals, even teachers—miss out on when they use AI, and what does it do to communication between people? What do people need to know, and what...
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THROWBACK: MATHEMATICAL MATURITY & TEST SUCCESS
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Far too often, we evaluate math ability in high schoolers solely on the basis of grades and level of math learned. A more accurate assessment of a student’s potential on challenging math tasks--including those posed on tests like the SAT and ACT--should consider mathematical maturity. Amy and Mike invited author and test prep professional Dr. Steve Warner to define what this means and explain the link between mathematical maturity and test success. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is mathematical maturity? How can you determine your "level" of...
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760. WHAT COLLEGE ADMISSIONS CULTURE IS DOING TO OUR KIDS
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Obviously, accomplishing big things requires energy and intention. But should admission to a specific school really be the ultimate focus of a child’s K-12 journey? Amy and Mike invited college advisor Beth Gelles to analyze what college admissions culture is doing to our kids. What are five things you will learn in this episode? How early does college admissions pressure start in the worst cases? When should parents actually start talking to their kids about college? When does wanting your child to succeed start doing more harm than good? How do we stop turning everything kids...
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THROWBACK: USING MINDFULNESS FOR TEST AND SCHOOL SUCCESS
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
How can we succeed in the moment when we’re so burdened by thoughts of the past and anxious over fears of the future? The practice and application of mindfulness can keep a person fully focused on the present. Amy and Mike invited author and test prep professional Logan Thompson to discuss powerful strategies for using mindfulness for test and school success. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What is mindfulness? What is “the other half of test prep” and how can mindfulness help prep? What are the “passengers” that steer us wrong in stressful moments? ...
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759. WHY DIDN’T MY TEST SCORE INCREASE?
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
It is often said that intention is one thing, but execution is another. That observation is little comfort to students who study and prepare with the best intentions yet still fail to reach their goals. Amy and Mike invited test prep professional Bobby Nicholson to unpack the regrettably common question, “Why didn’t my test score increase?” What are five things you will learn in this episode? When students say, “I know the material—I’m just a bad test taker,” what is usually preventing them from scoring higher? Why isn’t taking more practice tests enough, and what should...
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758. EXTEMP WITH AMY & MIKE: September 2026
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
The Tests and the Rest podcast consistently focuses on exploring important topics in testing, admissions, education, and learning with amazing expert guests. Sometimes, though, we enjoy an unstructured opportunity to discuss our own takes on major issues, upcoming events, and our endeavors at the intersection of business and education. Catch up with us in the latest episode of EXTEMP with Amy & Mike. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What have Amy and Mike been up to this month? Where in the world is Amy today? How many podcasts has Mike been on this month? What...
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THROWBACK: NEED BLIND AND NEED AWARE ADMISSIONS
Tests and the Rest: College Admissions Podcast
Is any aspect of college admissions more mystifying than the determination of financial aid? The concept of “need” and how different schools consider need in both admissions and aid decisions goes deeper than most people realize. Amy and Mike invited admissions consultant Jona Jacobson to bring clarity to the topic of need blind and need aware admissions. What are five things you will learn in this episode? What do the terms “need,” “need blind,” and “need aware” mean in college admissions? What is gapping? Do all colleges meet 100% of need? Does need...
info_outlineWhen is a price not a price? When the stated retail cost of a year at any college diverges dramatically from what students actually cost, you can’t effectively factor price into your initial college search. Amy and Mike invited educational expert Mark Salisbury to explain the importance of and path to college price transparency.
What are five things you will learn in this episode?
-
Why isn’t a college’s “sticker price” enough to understand how much a student actually pays?
-
Why do undergraduate financial offers arrive too late to inform college choice?
-
How can a database of actual college prices facilitate more informed school choices?
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How effective are standard Net Price Calculators?
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In what ways does price transparency benefit colleges?
MEET OUR GUEST
Dr. Mark Salisbury has spent over 30years in higher education. His first decade was as a soccer coach and admissions counselor. He then returned to school and earned a PhD in higher education at the University of Iowa, studying college student access and success as a researcher on the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education and a member of the Teagle Scholars. Since then, he has published both academic research and more mainstream writing on higher ed, including commentaries for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, interviews with NPR, and the blog, Delicious Ambiguity. From 2010 to 2018, he was an Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Director of Institutional Research and Assessment at Augustana College in Rock Island, IL.
In addition, Mark has done consulting work for colleges and universities over the past decade on how to use data to improve in areas like recruiting, financial aid leveraging, admissions, student retention, graduation, and post-college outcomes. He started the TuitionFit project in the summer of 2018 and continues to be an enthusiastic advocate for the benefits of price transparency for both students and colleges.
Find Mark at https://www.tuitionfit.org/
LINKS
The trouble with Net Price Calculators
2026 Best Colleges for Your Tuition (and Tax) Dollars
RELATED EPISODES
NEGOTIATING A FINANCIAL AWARD LETTER
BEST COLLEGES FOR YOUR TUITION DOLLARS
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT: TUITIONFIT COLLABORATIVE
ABOUT THIS PODCAST
Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS
Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you’re interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.