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Students at a Paying for College Bus Tour stop, Reading, PA

Financial Aid: The Information Divide Survey Key Findings

Background: The Sallie Mae Fund commissioned Harris Interactive^® to conduct a survey of 1,090 parents of 18- to 24-year-olds and 811 young adults age 18 to 24 during the fall of 2002 to see what information they have about paying for college and how that information affects decisions about attending college. Several of the key findings are summarized below.

Information about financial aid matters. The more a young adult knows about financial aid, the more likely they are to attend college.
Nearly half of all parents (48%) wished they had more information about how to pay for college.
Those who need financial aid information the most understand it the least.
- 60% of parents with incomes under $50,000 said they need more information about how to pay for college compared to only 37% of parents with incomes of $75,000 or more.
- 66% of African-American parents and 62% of Hispanic-American parents said they need more information about how to pay for college, compared to only 44% of white parents.
- 57% of parents who completed high school, or less, said they need more financial aid information, compared to only 33% of parents with a college degree or more education.
- Low-income and Hispanic-American parents are most likely to say that they have "no idea" how they are going to pay for college.
- Parents with incomes under $25,000 (45%) were three times more likely to say that they had "no idea" how they are going to pay for college, compared to parents with incomes of $75,000 or more (15%).
- 50% of Hispanic-American parents said they had "no idea" how they were going to pay for college, compared to 23% of white parents and 26% of African-American parents.
Lowest-income and Hispanic-American families get financial aid information later than upper-income and other families.
- Average age when child first received financial aid information:
  Under $25,000 — 16 years old
  Over $75,000 — 14 years old
  Hispanic-American families — 17 years old
  Other families — 15 years old
Many parents and young adults are not aware of even basic sources of financial aid.
- 58% of all parents and 72% of young adults planning to attend college did not name scholarships as a source of financial aid.
- 62% of all parents and 65% of young adults planning to attend college did not name grants as a source of financial aid.
- 64% of all parents and 71% of young adults planning to attend college did not name loans as a source of financial aid.
Lower income and minority parents are less likely to be able to identify common sources of financial aid.
- Between 75% and 79% of parents with incomes under $25,000 did not identify scholarships, grants, or loans as sources of financial aid, compared to 55% to 63% of parents with incomes of $75,000 or more.
- 74% of African-American parents did not identify scholarships, compared to 53% of white parents.
- 83% of Hispanic-American parents did not mention grants, compared to 58% of white parents.
Just over one in four (26%) young adults not currently in college, but who considered college, would have been more likely to attend college if they had had better information about how to pay for college.

The Sallie Mae Fund, a charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae, achieves its mission—to increase access to a post–secondary education for America's students—by supporting programs and initiatives that help open doors to higher education, prepare families for their investment, and bridge the gap when no one else can. For more information visit www.salliemaefund.org.