The soaring college tuition continues to overburden families across the nation, as 53 percent of them had to borrow money to pay for the college tuition last year.
According to a study “How America Pays for College 2018” conducted by Sallie Mae, a college company in collaboration with Ipsos, a research company, the two-thirds of the families, which borrowed money, had already planned to borrow to pay for the college.
In 2017-18, families on average spent $26,458 to pay college fees with 47 percent paid out of the pockets by students and parents from their savings and incomes. While aids and scholarship covered just 28 percent of the costs and loans covered 24 percent of the college costs.
“The data suggest that scholarships – the vast majority of which are issued by the colleges themselves – are one of the most valuable means of helping families pay for college; last year, these funds paid for almost a fifth of the total cost of college,” Julia Clark, senior vice president, Ipsos Public Affairs said.
“Still, about a third of families do not even apply for scholarships, showing that there is still significant opportunity for families to continue to defray the cost of college.”
When it comes to repaying the loans, the study has found two-thirds of families are expecting students to pay back their education loans while students prefer repaying larger payments in a shorter period of time.
“It’s gratifying that families are so confident in the financial decisions they make regarding paying for college,” Raymond J. Quinlan, Chairman and CEO of Sallie Mae, said.
“Still, there is more work to do to equip families with the tools and information that will help them manage education expenses, whether it be applying for financial aid earlier in the process or taking steps to minimize student loan financing costs,“ he added.