IHEP Research on Student Borrowing Patterns

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From Aspirations to Action The Role of Middle
School Parents in Making the Dream of College a
Reality
Wendy Erisman, Ph.D. Director of Research and
Evaluation
Student Financial Aid Research Network June 13,
2008
PRESENTED BY Institute for Higher Education Policy
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Project Goals

• Middle school as crucial stage in college
  preparation
• Parents of middle school students as key
  influencers of childrens choices
• Better understanding of parents
• College knowledge
• Steps taken to plan for college

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Methodology

• National telephone survey of parents of
  middle-school students
• Oversampled for minority families
• Final data set included 1,000 White parents and
  800 minority parents
• Data were weighted to make them nationally
  representative
• Used U.S. Census Bureaus 2005 American Community
  Survey for persons age 35 to 50 with at least one
  child in the home

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High Aspirations

• 87 percent of parents expected their child to go
  to college
• 75 percent said that a college degree is
  necessary to get ahead in todays world

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Actions Not Aligned

• 34 percent of parents had started saving money
  for college
• 18 percent had met with their childs teacher or
  counselor to discuss college
• 45 percent had taken none of the actions
  mentioned

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Actions Not Aligned
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Actions Vary by Education

• 55 percent of parents with a graduate degree had
  started saving, compared to only 22 percent of
  those without a high school diploma
• 53 percent of parents without a high school
  diploma reported taking no action, compared to 18
  percent with a graduate degree

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Actions Vary by Education
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Sources of College Information

• Most common sources of information
• Family (39 percent)
• Friends (34 percent)
• Internet (32 percent)
• 37 percent of parents reported having no sources
  of college information

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Academic Preparation

• Parents were fairly realistic about when their
  child should start taking specific classes to
  prepare for college
• 66 percent said ninth grade
• Only 2 percent said later
• More than 80 percent of all parents felt that
  they knew what classes their child needed to take

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Academic Preparation
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Financial Preparation

• 38 percent of parents believed they had primary
  responsibility for paying for college, while 43
  percent believed they shared that responsibility
  with their child
• Parents with a graduate degree most often said
  they were solely responsible for paying for
  college, whereas parents who had not graduated
  from high school were more likely to place
  responsibility for paying for college on the
  government

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Financial Preparation

• 37 percent of parents reported saving for college
  while 30 percent said they were cutting back on
  spending
• Parents with at least a bachelors degree were
  more likely to start saving while those who had
  not graduated from high school were least likely
  to cut back on spending
• Parents with household incomes between 35,000
  and 50,000 were the most likely of all income
  groups to have cut back on spending

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Financial Preparation
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Financial Aid Awareness

• Nearly 94 percent of parents believed that the
  family would receive financial aid if their child
  goes to college.
• Only 11 percent had started to research financial
  aid
• Parents tended to have broad knowledge of
  financial aid such as scholarships (75 percent),
  grants (25 percent), and loans (35 percent).
• About 11 percent couldnt name any type of
  financial aid

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Financial Aid Awareness

• Parents who are most likely to need financial aid
  are least likely to be aware of the various forms
  of aid.
• 36 percent of parents with bachelors degrees
  mentioned Pell Grants, compared to 17 percent of
  parents with high school degrees or less
• 39 percent of White parents mentioned grants and
  38 percent loans, compared to 28 percent and 31
  percent, respectively, for Hispanic parents

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Conclusions

• Significant gaps remain between the high
  aspiration of middle school parents and the
  action steps they are taking
• Working toward greater involvement by parents in
  early college planning will require a
  comprehensive approach that combines outreach
  efforts, curricular changes, increased program
  support, and other activities.
• It will also require participation at all levels,
  including students and families, high schools,
  colleges, state and local governments, the
  federal government, and the private sector.

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Conclusions

• One possibility for change is early intervention
  programs aimed at middle school students and
  parents
• Sallie Maes Kids2College
• More information in report

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From Aspirations to Action The Role of Middle
School Parents in Making the Dream of College a
Reality
www.ihep.org
PRESENTED BY Institute for Higher Education Policy