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.

Parents are reluctant to talk to their kids about college and student loans because they do not want to disclose personal financial information, which is uncomfortable, said Christine Roberts, head of student lending at Citizens Bank. She adds, “While paying for college may seem to be a financial decision, if it involves the entire family making sacrifices, it becomes an emotional decision.”

Forty-eight percent of the high school juniors surveyed said they have spoken to their parents only once or never at all about managing and paying for college. Kosakowski added that if students did talk with their parents, the discussion was about an hour long. Thirty-two percent of high school seniors and 31 percent of college freshmen have indicated having only one discussion or none at all with their parents about college expenses.

“Taking out credit in the realm of what they can pay back can set families up for failure,” Roberts says. She stressed that student loans are not a bad thing because they do build credit. She wants students and families to understand their loans and what it means 10 years down the road. Citizens Bank sends out “know what you owe” letters at the end of each school year to inform families about their current loan status.

When discussing college financing, often it’s the parents who may feel unprepared, said Kosakowski. Junior Achievement provides tools to help parents and students make a financial decision rather than an emotional one. With the “JA Build Your Future” app, students and parents can walk through the financial process of paying for college and be linked to the Department of Labor site to research after-college career options and future salary information. The app can aggregate a list of school options and school types, and it calculates the amounts of loan options.

Both Kosakowski and Roberts encourage parents to begin discussing their kids’ financial options for college by the time the children have reached middle school. Students don’t realize how rigorous college can be, Roberts said. She also said students should explore educational options beyond the traditional four-year college degree, such as vocational schools and internship programs. 

Seventy-five percent of high school juniors in the survey said that they have not done enough research to prepare for how to manage and pay for college, while high school seniors and college freshmen fell into the 60 percent area.

The survey found that teens, when researching financial information about college, also talked to other groups besides their parents—including teachers, guidance counselors, other family members or friends. Some used social media, college websites, college fairs, financial websites or blogs. Banks and other financial institutions were also indicated as a source of information.

“It’s clear that more needs to be done to help equip students with the tools necessary to minimize student debt and help students make more informed decisions on what loan is best for them,” said Brendan Coughlin, president of consumer deposits and lending at Citizens Bank. “We’re helping our young people understand how to make smart financial decisions so they can pursue their studies and begin their careers after college on sound financial footing.”

Using an e-mail invitation and an online survey by Wakefield Research, 500 U.S. high school juniors, 500 U.S. high school seniors and 500 U.S. college freshmen participated in the survey between March 22 and March 30, 2018.