Families Paid More for College Last Year and Covered Half of Costs Out of Pocket, According to Sallie Mae’s ‘How America Pays for College 2023’
August 08 2023 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
FAFSA® Completion Rates Hold Steady
But 72% of Families Unable to Correctly Identify When the
FAFSA® Becomes Available
Families reported spending $28,026 on college for academic year
2022-23—an 11% increase from $25,313 in 2021-22— and covered half
of expenses with income and savings, according to new data in
“How America Pays For College 2023,” the annual study from
Sallie Mae® and Ipsos. Scholarships and grants were used by 76% of
families and covered 29% of costs, and 41% of families reported
borrowing for college, covering 19% of costs.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230808045216/en/
Snapshot of Sallie Mae's How America Pays
for College 2023 Report (Graphic: Business Wire)
About 7 in 10 families reported completing the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), but roughly the same number of
families (72%) were unable to correctly identify when the FAFSA®
becomes available. The FAFSA® is so critical for students and
families to complete because it’s a gateway to more than $112
billion scholarships, grants, and federal financial aid. The recent
announcement that the new 2024-2025 FAFSA® will be shifted from
October to December could add to more confusion for students and
families.
“Students and families continue to view higher education as an
important investment in their future but are also looking for ways
to make it more affordable and consistently eliminate schools from
consideration based on cost,” said Jenny Berg, vice president,
Ipsos. “Unfortunately, families may be leaving free money on the
table due to ongoing confusion about the FAFSA and eligibility for
scholarships and grants.”
Four in 10 families did not use scholarships to cover college
costs, most often citing a lack of awareness and low likelihood of
winning for not applying. In fact, 45% of families believe
scholarships are only available for students with exceptional
grades or abilities. To connect more students and families to
scholarships, Scholly—the top scholarship search app—is now free
through Sallie Mae. To date, students have won more than $100
million in scholarships through Scholly.
About half of families (53%) said they had a plan to pay for
college, and 61% said borrowing was always part of the plan. Fewer
than half (44%), however, have discussed who will be responsible
for making payments on student loans.
“With federal student loan payments set to resume in October,
now’s the time to start mapping out a plan,” said Rick Castellano,
vice president, Sallie Mae. “Federal servicers have changed for
many borrowers, so knowing who and how much you owe is critical and
so is understanding the various options available to transition
back in repayment.”
“How America Pays for College 2023” reports the results of
Ipsos' online interviews of 1,213 undergraduate students and 986
parents of undergraduate students by Ipsos between March 31-May 8,
2023.
Access the complete report at
www.salliemae.com/howamericapays.
Sallie Mae (Nasdaq: SLM) believes education and life-long
learning, in all forms, help people achieve great things. As the
leader in private student lending, we provide financing and
know-how to support access to college and offer products and
resources to help customers make new goals and experiences, beyond
college, happen. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as
Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored
by or agencies of the United States of America.
Ipsos is one of the largest market research and polling
companies globally. At Ipsos, our passionately curious research
professionals, analysts, and scientists have built unique
multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and
powerful insights into the actions, opinions, and motivations of
citizens, consumers, patients, customers, or employees. Visit
https://www.ipsos.com/en-us to learn more.
Category: Student Loans Category: How America Pays for College
Category: FAFSA
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230808045216/en/
Caron Jackson 302.304.3041 Caron.Jackson@SallieMae.com
SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
SLM (NASDAQ:SLM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024