Staying Informed


Staying informed about the college admissions and financial aid process through access to current research is a positive investment for guidance counselors, parents and students. studentPOLL is a research collaboration between the College Board and Arts and Sciences Group, LLC that focuses on the perceptions and behaviors of college-bound students and their families. College admissions and enrollment administrators use external sources of data, such as studentPOLL, along with institutional data to measure and predict student behaviors.

The current issue of studentPOLL is based on a survey of high school seniors and their college considerations relative to the sticker price and full cost of attendance at a specific college or university. The headline of the most recent poll is: “A Majority of Students Rule Out Colleges Based on Sticker Price” (vol 9, issue 1). It is a significant challenge that many students and families rule out a college based on sticker price without knowing that the cost of attendance will most likely be far less. (See the infographic featured in Caroline’s Jan 11 blog post.)

According to the studentPOLL findings: 
“More than half of the 1,461 students surveyed reported that they had ruled out colleges on the basis of the sticker price alone without considering their likely financial aid awards.”  
(The infographic from ScholarshipExperts.com states 6 out of 10 students rule out a college based on sticker price.)
I join many admissions, financial aid and guidance counseling colleagues who believe families tend to overestimate total college attendance costs. The Joyce Ivy Foundation’s college partners – along with many other highly selective colleges and universities – offer need-based financial aid. That means your cost of attendance will be based on what your family is able to pay. It is extremely important for families to use the online net price calculator located on the financial aid website of a specific college or university to see estimated information about what it will actually cost that student, and family, to attend. (More on net price calculators and sources of financial aid information in our Dec 19 post.) Many college financial aid offices provided access to an institutional online net price calculator before the Federal mandate to provide an online net price calculator. The studentPOLL report suggests that while use of net price calculators has increased over time, students are not using these tools to the degree that was anticipated.
studentPOLL also has a chart that captures the various sources students report using for financial aid information:
Admissions officers and financial aid officers work collaboratively to educate families about the real costs of college attendance. Use net price calculators, and the other sources outlined above, as resources as you consider your college options and the real cost of attendance.

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