How America Pays for College 2023
Sallie Mae's national study of college students and parents
Conducted by Ipsos
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College spending is on the rise
Families reported spending an average of $28,026 on college in the academic year 2022-23, an 11% increase from $25,313 in 2021-22.
Just 28% of families know when the FAFSA® becomes available
The Department of Education announced the new 2024-25 FAFSA® will be released in December 2023, two months after the usual release date of October 1.
Families filing the FAFSA by academic year
Reasons for not
completing the FAFSA®
of families that did not submit the FAFSA® believe their income is too high
had problems with the application or found it too complicated
didn't have the information required for the application
missed the deadline
did not know about the FAFSA®
61% of families used scholarships
But almost half (45%) still believe scholarships are only for students with exceptional grades or abilities.
Scholarship Misconceptions
Paying for college tip
One in five families (18%) are unaware of scholarships. Discover 5 tips for getting scholarships for college with Sallie Mae's scholarship guide.
Few families discuss student loan repayment
Just 44% of students and parents discussed who would be responsible for paying back the loans borrowed by the student.
78% of families say they eliminated a school from consideration based on cost.
Planning for College
Slightly more than half of college families (53%) report having developed a plan for how to pay for all years of college before the student enrolled.
Check out the many resources and tools Sallie Mae offers to help you plan for college.
Additional resources
Join the conversation with #HowAmericaPays
How America Pays for College 2023 reports the results of online interviews Ipsos conducted in English between March 31, 2023 and May 8, 2023, with 1,002 parents of undergraduate students and 1,197 undergraduate students between the ages of 18 and 24, including HBCU students. Data and years shown reflect the academic year July 1, 2022 – June 20,2023.
FAFSA® is a registered service mark of U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid