A look at the changing ways families are paying for college

Over the past several years, the ways that families go about paying for college have shifted dramatically as schools have gotten more expensive and the national economy has grown increasingly turbulent. A survey conducted by Ipsos, an independent marketing firm, for Sallie Mae, one of the leading college loan backers in the nation, found that parents are relying less on their yearly income to finance their student’s education and more on other means.

In 2009 and 2010, almost 40 percent of college tuition was paid for through parents’ savings or income, while that number stood at under 30 percent as of 2012. At the same time, the amount of college costs funded through students’ own earnings rose markedly over the four-year span as the Great Recession ate away at many of their families’ lifelong savings.

The biggest reversal in trends was the number of students who were relying on scholarships and grants to take care of the costs of college. The percentage of college loans that were funded through these means jumped roughly 10 percent from 2009 to 2012.

Ipsos polled 800 parents of college students between the ages of 18 and 24 to gather its results. The polling took place nationwide to determine an evenly balanced demographic.

The biggest takeaway from this research for students and their families should be that as college gets more expensive, alternative options are still available. Although the average income for the families of many students has significantly decreased over the past few years, scholarship foundations and other awards continue to offer relief. Prospective students should seek scholarship assistance when they start looking for financing for college so that they won’t have to burden themselves or their parents with unmanageable loan debt.