Students need information earlier in their education careers about college costs and available grants and loans, as well as encouragement to save, a study commissioned by the College Board says.
Based on focus group and survey research of about 2,250 parents and students nationwide, the study released last month found that just 46 percent of parents knew the cost to attend a public college in their home state.
Parents’ knowledge of the federal Pell Grant tuition-aid program depended on their level of education and ethnicity.
While 82 percent of African-Americans and 81 percent of Caucasian parents said they knew about the program, only 44 percent of Latino parents did. About 91 percent of parents with a bachelors degree were aware of Pell Grants, 85 percent of parents with an associates degree, and 62 percent of parents with a high school education or less, the survey found.
