Half of recent college graduates still rely on money from parents

Most parents look forward to their children graduating from college, as it marks the time in their lives when they can start becoming real adults and taking care of themselves–moving out, finding a full time job, and potentially getting married, having kids, or buying a home.

But a recent study from the University of Arizona, as reported by CNN Money, has found that that’s not the case for more than half of recent college graduates, who report they still depend on their parents for money.

Parents still support kids after college graduation

The study looked at 1,000 college graduates who started college in 2007 and tracked them through 2013. In the two years after college, half of these graduates continued to receive financial support from their parents.

And the results were no different for the 49% of graduates with full time jobs. Nearly half of this group also reported relying on their parents financially.

And while not every graduate was taking money from his or her parents, most reported that they were not completely financially independent.

Of the more than 1,000 students surveyed, only 300 said they were completely self-sufficient two years out of college.

Student debt a barrier to adulthood

A major reason for this is the high levels of student debt graduates often carry, along with a weaker job market that made it difficult for these graduates to find jobs that paid enough to afford their student loans.

As we’ve reported, this has caused young adults to put off life milestones, like getting married, having children and purchasing a home.

Unfortunately, the parents these graduates are relying on often have financial troubles of their own–particularly if they took out additional Parent PLUS student loans to pay for their children’s college education.

And many parents are putting off saving for retirement because they’re still supporting their adult children and even, in some cases, paying their children’s student loans.

Less student debt, more financial independence

It’s understandable that many parents don’t want their adult children to flounder financially, particularly if they have high student loan debt.

But in many cases, the children may be able to manage their debt without their parents’ help by switching to a more favorable student loan repayment plan that could lower their payments.

We help college graduates and others with student debt figure out the best way to pay off their loans so that they have the opportunity to be financially independent and avoid student loan default.

We also help families and students make college affordable and avoid taking on too much student debt in the first place, so that borrowers will not burdened by debt after graduation and won’t need as much financial support from outside sources like their parents.

If you’d like to know how we can help you or your family, call us toll-free at 1-888-234-3907 or contact us here and we’ll get back to you right away.