It’s September and by now, the kids are back to school. Not surprisingly, I used to love this time of year. What can I say...you guys know I’m a total geek.

Whether you’re sending your little ones off for the first time or your kid is entering the final chapter of high school, the most expensive part of their education is yet to come!

I know, I’m such a Debbie Downer. But the cost of college is no joke and if handled without forethought, it can wreak havoc on the financial lives of parents or saddle kids with boatloads of debt.

There are thousands of colleges out there. Public, private, in-state, out-of-state, off-campus, on-campus, this major, that major...it goes on and on. It can be extremely overwhelming. 

So where does one turn for some help with the process? My favorite place to go is the annual Best Colleges For Your Money list from MONEY.

To help us break down the 2017 rankings, MONEY reporter Kaitlin Mulhere, joins us. Her beat is her education, so she is the ideal person to discuss the topic.

According to Kaitlin, MONEY uses three categories to compile the list: Cost: This category takes into account the net price of a degree, student loan debt, student loan repayment and default risk, value-added student loan repayment measures and affordability for low-income students.Education Quality: This includes the six-year graduation rate, value-added graduation rate, peer quality, instructor quality and financial troubles facing the school.Alumni Success: Includes graduates’ earnings, earnings adjusted by majors, 10-year earnings, estimated market-value of alumni’s average job skills and value-added earnings.I’m not going to reveal the whole list, but I will say that my alma mater at least cracked the top 50. That’s more than I can say for where Mark went...

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