Parents in the U.S. are giving their children less money to pay for their college costs amidst the continued weakness in the economy.
This has added to the many pressures already on students, who have had to borrow more money, rely on more scholarships and grants and for many, live at their parents.
Parents dished out on average about $5,725 of their income or savings for each of their child’s college expenses during the academic year of 2012 -2013.
That is in contrast to the more than $8,750 during the 2009-2010 academic year, according to one annual report regarding college funding by Sallie Mae the provider of student loans.
The share that parents pay of college costs from their savings or income dropped from 37% just three years ago to 27%. These figures do not include any borrowing the parents might have done, but that that also dropped somewhat during the same period.
One vice president from Sallie Mae said parents still are willing to stretch financially, but their earnings have not been able to keep up.
To defray college costs, families now are leaning more and more on scholarships from universities, even though many schools are also struggling with financial difficulties.
In 2012, 30% of all college costs were paid for through institutional grants, which were up from just 23% three years ago. For the third consecutive year, it was the largest single source of funds used to cover college costs.
More students in the mean time are rejecting living in college dormitories. During the beginning of 2013, 57% of families with college students reported the student living with them at home or at a relative’s home, which is up from just 43% in 2010.
Students in households of low income traditionally have lived with their parents in higher numbers, but amongst families that have incomes above $100,000 the percentage of students remaining home has doubled to more than 48% in the past three years.
Leave a Reply