CORRECTING & REPLACING GRAPHIC Students, Parents Find Student Loan Financial Aid Process More Stressful than Applying for Col...
October 13 2016 - 10:47AM
Business Wire
Citizens Bank study finds more than half of
borrowers don’t fully grasp student loan process; more than
three-quarters want help navigating process; majority of
Millennials worry about ability to repay loans
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Students, Parents Find Student Loan
Financial Aid Process More Stressful than Applying for College
(Graphic: Business Wire)
The release reads:
Students, Parents Find Student Loan
Financial Aid Process More Stressful than Applying for
College
Citizens Bank study finds more than half of
borrowers don’t fully grasp student loan process; more than
three-quarters want help navigating process; majority of
Millennials worry about ability to repay loans
It’s the season for students and families across the nation to
start filling out their federal student aid applications and a
study released today by Citizens Bank finds that a large majority
are more stressed by the loan process than by actually applying to
college, while more than half do not fully understand the student
loan financial aid process.
The online survey of more than 2,000 Americans aged 18 and over
showed that Millennials in particular found the process both
confusing (74%) and stressful (76%) with more than half (53%) of
Millennials and 60 percent of parents and others pointing to
lengthy and unclear paperwork as the source of confusion and
stress. Difficulty understanding legal and financial terminology
followed close behind. The great majority of respondents indicated
that the process would be less stressful if they could speak to a
financial professional about their student loan application.
“Students and families today are grappling with the rising cost
of college and many don’t know where to begin when it comes to
navigating the financial aid process. While going off to college is
an exciting time, figuring out how to fund an education can be
daunting,” said Christine Roberts, Head of Student Lending,
Citizens Bank. “Talking to someone who is experienced with the
financial aid process is one of the best ways to be prepared and to
alleviate the stress that comes from not understanding your
options, but many people don’t think to ask their financial
professional or banker for advice.”
Detailed survey findings include:
- 71 percent of those that have been
through the student loan application process consider it more
stressful than the actual college application process.
- 52 percent do not fully understand the
student loan process.
- 81 percent indicated that the process
would be less stressful if they could speak to a financial
professional about their student loan application.
- Three in four Americans (75%) and 80
percent of Millennials worry about their ability to pay back their
student loans.
While those surveyed indicated they turn to college/university
financial aid offices (53%) and federal student loan websites (53%)
for guidance and advice, many (57%) would prefer to speak with
financial professionals for advice on paying for college.
Citizens Bank offers hundreds of student loan specialists who
will help students and families understand their many loan options
and recently began taking student loan applications in its branches
where borrowers can sit down with a banker and ask questions about
the process. The bank also offers a Student Loan Awareness site
that provides valuable information about paying for college, as
well as a Facebook community where borrowers can ask each other
questions.
Commenting on widespread concern among respondents about their
ability pay back their student loans, Roberts said, “It’s important
for families to understand their options when it comes to one of
the biggest financial commitments of their lives. This is true for
both funding an education and for planning how to make payments
once school is over. Refinancing that student loan can save money
and shorten the payment timeframe.”
Citizens offers a range of borrowing options for
credit-qualified students and graduates and their families
including refinancing options for both private and federal student
loans, as well as the Citizens Bank Student Loan, the Citizens Bank
Student Loan with Multi-Year Borrowing and the Citizens Bank Parent
Loan. In most cases, Citizens lends to in-school borrowers who
apply for loans with credit-qualified co-signers. To ensure that
student borrowers fully understand the terms of their loans,
Citizens includes a thorough review of the borrower’s options
(federal and private) at the front end of the application process
and sends borrowers an annual “report card” describing how much
they have borrowed to date and what their monthly payments will be
after graduation.
To learn more about Citizens Bank, call the customer contact
center at 1-800-428-7463, follow the bank
on Facebook and Twitter or visit
the Citizens Bank website.
Survey Methodology
A double wave online omnibus survey was fielded in September
2016 among Americans 18+. The survey aimed to understand
perspectives on student loans, including pain points around the
loan application process. The sample consisted of 2,086 Americans
18+. The omnibus survey was conducted online for Citizens by ORC
between September 15-21, 2016.
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (“Citizens”) is one of the
nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $145.2
billion in assets as of June 30, 2016. Headquartered
in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of
retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals,
small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and
institutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens helps its retail
customers “bank better” with mobile and online banking, a 24/7
customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,200
ATMs and approximately 1,200 Citizens Bank branches in 11 states in
the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Citizens also
provides wealth management, mortgage lending, auto lending, student
lending and commercial banking services in select markets
nationwide. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers corporate,
institutional and not-for-profit clients a full range of wholesale
banking products and services including lending and deposits,
capital markets, treasury services, foreign exchange and interest
hedging, leasing and asset finance, specialty finance and trade
finance. Citizens operates through its subsidiaries Citizens Bank,
N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania as Citizens Bank, Citizens
Commercial Banking and Citizens One. Additional information about
Citizens and its full line of products and services can be found
at www.citizensbank.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161013005820/en/
Citizens Financial Group, Inc.Lauren DiGeronimo,
781-471-1454
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