News

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

The Sallie Mae Fund Launches $1 Million Statewide Campaign to Increase Financial Aid Awareness Among Minorities

New Poll Shows Lack of Awareness about Financial Aid is a Barrier to College for Florida's Minorities

TALLAHASEE, Fla., Oct. 11, 2005—The Sallie Mae Fund kicked off its Florida "Paying for College" bus tour today at Godby High School where students participated in a workshop on planning and paying for college. The bus tour is part of The Sallie Mae Fund's new $1 million financial aid awareness campaign aimed at closing the financial-aid information gap that hinders many low-income and minority Floridians from pursuing a college education.

A Mason-Dixon poll commissioned by The Sallie Mae Fund found that 95 percent of Hispanics and 80 percent of African-Americans in Florida not currently enrolled in college said they would have been more likely to attend college if they had better information about how to pay for it. And 60 percent of respondents said they would have been better students in high school if they had known that financial aid was available.

The state campaign consists of:

"Get Schooled on College" radio and outdoor advertising campaign geared toward high school students in partnership with Clear Channel.
Print ads and a television public service announcement featuring Governor Jeb Bush.
A 10-city, seven-county "Paying for College" bus tour in partnership with local financial aid experts. The tour will feature workshops on planning and paying for college for high school students and their parents in Spanish and English, one-on-one counseling, and free educational materials.
Distribution of free planning and paying for college educational materials in English and Spanish to student-serving organizations.
Media partnerships with Florida Education Channel, as well as media outlets in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, and Miami.
Partnership with Volunteer Florida Foundation and Miami Dade College to pilot a sixth-grade early college awareness effort through the Take Stock in Children program.

The Sallie Mae Fund will work with the State of Florida's College Reach Out Programs on the campaign's outreach efforts.

"The new poll results show why we need a united effort to get more minority students to go to college," said State Senator Al Lawson of Tallahassee. "I want to thank The Sallie Mae Fund for its $1 million commitment to this campaign to close the financial-aid information gap. I believe this smart investment in our future will return great dividends to our state."

"Encouraging higher student achievement and increasing readiness for college are high priorities for Florida," said Dr. David Mosrie, CEO of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. "If students don't think attending college is possible because of lack of knowledge about aid options, they lose a strong incentive to succeed academically."

The Mason-Dixon survey* was conducted Aug. 1–8. Five hundred Hispanic and 500 African-American youths ages 18–24 were randomly selected and interviewed by telephone. In each subgroup, half (250) had attended or graduated college ("achievers") and half did not ("potentials"). Respondents said that by far, cost is the largest obstacle to attending college. And there was a strong correlation between awareness of financial aid and the decision to pursue a college education.

Other key findings of the survey include:

An overwhelming majority—more than 80 percent—of Hispanic and African-American youths surveyed said that a college education is important to an individual's "future opportunities, financial security and happiness."
A substantial majority from each group said they would make their child's education a top priority.
Cost was by far the most frequently mentioned obstacle to attending college, cited by half the respondents.
On average, four in 10 "potentials" said they were unfamiliar with the types of financial aid available. That percentage is more than twice that of college "achievers."
On average, about a third of all respondents said they did not receive any financial aid information during middle or high school. College achievers reported faring better than their potential counterparts: Just 26 percent of all achievers report not receiving information, compared to 42 percent of potentials.
The vast majority of all respondents said they would have preferred to receive information about financial aid in their sophomore year or earlier.
A substantial majority of all respondents said they wished someone had taken the time to better explain their options and opportunities for financial aid.

"The lack of knowledge about financial resources continues to be an unnecessary barrier to a college education for too many Americans," said Kathleen deLaski, president of The Sallie Mae Fund. "Under the Governor's leadership, Florida does a great job reaching out to its diverse population. We are delighted to be working to enhance Florida's outreach efforts."

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.