WASHINGTON-What will college cost?
A new study has found that nearly 50% of high school seniors can't venture a guess and even more have little understanding of the basics of a student loan.
The findings, released as part of the first CUNA High School Student Borrowing Survey, also found that 70% are nevertheless confident they will receive a high-paying job upon graduating. That finding, said CUNA, suggests "that students are willing to pay the cost of college tuition even while not understanding how their associated borrowing will affect their financial futures."
The Student Borrowing Survey polled 847 via the Internet from a population of high school students nationally (ages 17-18) on strategies for paying for college, finding 83% did not know the rates and 77% did not know the duration of their expected or existing college loans.
Among the other findings:
* 74% of aspiring college attendees say they will need a combination of federal and private loans, family money and jobs to support their tuition.
* 20% reported that family will pay their tuition outright, with 5.8% saying they will use federal loans and grants and 2.01% will use private loans and grants.
* 25% anticipate taking out two or more student loans rather than a single loan (13%), while 60% reported that they didn't know how many loans they would need to graduate.
Of the respondents who do have an idea of how much money they will owe when they graduate, 22% say they will owe $11,000 - $50,000; 15% expect debt of $10,000 or less, and 13% of respondents expect to have more than $50,000 in debt at graduation.
* 33% reported family income of less than $25,000, 11% less than $50,000, 19.5% less than $100,000, 15.5% less than $150,000 and 21% more than $150,000.
* 66% of respondents were were female, mirroring the gender gap in college applications.
