Families are more frightened than ever when it comes to figuring out how to pay for a college education. They need and want an unprecedented level of guidance and assistance from college admissions and financial aid professionals. This is one of a number of key findings in a late-2008/early-2009 study by Longmire and Company for a group of public and private colleges across the United States.
The institutions involved in the project knew going in that the current economy is going to have an impact on enrollment. The aim was to measure how much and determine what can be done to mitigate potentially negative effects.
The responses from over 1,000 households gave some clear and surprising clues. Nearly half of the households surveyed say that their plans for college have either changed “dramatically” or “somewhat” because of the current economic conditions. About 40% of respondents indicated that changes to their family’s financial situation had impacted their plans for college.
Even though respondents indicated an increased need and reliance on financial aid and scholarships to pay for college, a high percentage of households remain unfamiliar with their options and spend little or no time seeking knowledge about those options. Nearly one-quarter of households are “not very” or “not at all” familiar with the financial aid, scholarships, grants, loans, and other sources available to them for paying for college. Nearly a third have spent “no time” or “not much time” researching their options.
Longmire and Company’s study was referenced in articles by US News and World Report (click here) and University Business Magazine (click here).
