College freshmen are not much more prepared to manage and pay for college than college-bound high school students, a new study says.
Thirty-nine percent of high school seniors and 34 percent of college freshmen say they are not prepared to manage and pay for college, according to a study conducted by Junior Achievement USA and Rhode-Island-based Citizens Bank. More than half of high school juniors say they are not prepared to manage and pay for college.
Almost 80 percent of students surveyed viewed earning a college degree as valuable and have applied or will apply to college.
When students were asked in the survey about the cost of the various college options, most were unaware of the actual cost of their college choices. College freshmen and high school juniors and seniors in the survey responded with, “I don’t know.”
“As a community, we are not doing enough to educate young people to make smart, sound decisions so they are confident and secure in the choices they make that impact their lives so dramatically,” said Jack Kosakowski, president and CEO of Junior Achievement USA, in a statement. “It’s no wonder that kids feel vulnerable.”
Forty-six percent of college freshmen and forty-six percent of high school seniors said they felt somewhat prepared paying for and managing the cost of college. Thirty-seven percent of high school juniors indicated they were somewhat prepared, and 35 percent said they were not very prepared.
One-third of college freshmen said they have less than $1,000 set aside in their college savings fund. Thirty-nine percent of high school juniors and 30 percent of high school seniors said they had less than $1,000 dollars saved for a college fund.
Most students expect to pay about $16,000 to $18,000 for their first year of college, except college freshmen, who expect to pay approximately $9,000 for their first year, according to survey responses.
“Kids today are intelligent,” said Kosakowski. “They know that a college degree is a good pathway to future success, yet simply need more help understanding the implications of their decision-making. It absolutely takes a village to help ensure teens can accomplish what they hope to in life.”
Eighty-seven percent of seniors expect to pay for college through a combination of sources. Students cited scholarships and grants, student loans and savings from a summer job or a job they work while in school to help pay for college.