LRAP at #NACCAP2019

Make sure to swing by the booth this year. We’re excited to share in your enrollment journey and help you exceed your goals in this student-loan-averse climate.

We’ve taken the time to scour the web for relevant data and statistics regarding fear of student debt and the likely impact it is having on the higher education choices students and families are making.

As a focal-point for a facilitated discussion at NACCAP in 2018, we created this convenient take-home document with primary sources listed (and linked below).

Download a PDF of this document.

Sources:
1. 2017 Civis Analytics Poll
2. 2017 How America Pays for College: Sallie Mae’s 10th National Study of College Students & Parents
3. Strada/Gallup 2018 Survey on Top Reasons US Consumers Choose Educational Pathways
4. Education Value Proposition Study by Longmire and Company in 2013
5. Strada/Gallup 2018 Student Survey Report
6. New America’s Annual Survey on Higher Education 2017
7. Gallup/Lumina 2014 study
8. 2017 IHE Survey of Admissions Directors
9. 2017 STAMATS National Poll of College Administrators
10. 2018 IHE Survey of College Presidents
11. 2017 Chronicle of Higher Education Tuition Pricing Crisis
12. NPSAS:16 (National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 2015-16)
13. TICAS – Student Debt and the Class of 2016
14. Brookings Study on Borrowers with Large Balances 2018
15. Demographics and the Demand for Higher Education, Nathan D. Grawe, 2017
16. NCES Results of Long Term Longitudinal Study on 9th graders
17. Barna Group 2018 research on Gen. Z & Millennials
18. US Labor Department Statistics

Student & Family POVs

• 42% of Americans say college degrees are not worthwhile due to student debt and poor job prospects. (1.)
• 69% of families eliminated colleges from selection set due to cost. (2.)
• 98% of families took steps to make college more affordable; 73% did so by choosing in-state school. (2.)
• 65% of those 18-22 say finding a good paying job is somewhat or much harder than when their parents were their age. (6.)
• 79% of Americans think education beyond high school is not ‘affordable to anyone in this country who needs it’. (7.)
• 34% of students strongly agree that they will graduate with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in the job market. (5.)
• 39% of Americans who are dissatisfied with four-year programs cited the cost as a leading concern. (1)
• 58% of families who eliminated a college from a selection set due to cost, did so before research. (2.)
• 20% of families who eliminated a college from selection set due to cost, did so before applying, 12% before aid award, and 10% after aid award. (2.)
• 73% of families taking steps to make college more affordable did so by choosing in-state school. (2.)
• 22% of education consumers say access or affordability motivated them toward their specific institution. (3.)
• 44% of students in one poll rejected a school based on published sticker price. (4.)
• 36% of students strongly agree that they will graduate with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in the workplace after finding employment. (5.)
• 53% of students strongly agree that their major will lead to a good job. (5.)

Higher Education Professional POVs

• 80% of college leaders believe tuition discounting is unsustainable generally, 59% at their institution specifically. (11.)
• 89% of private, nonprofit admissions directors believe their institution is losing potential applicants due to concerns about accumulating student loan debt. (8.)
• 58% of admissions directors believe public discussions of student debt discourage students from considering their college specifically. (8.)
• 66.27% of college administrators cited tuition or fee affordability as among the greatest internal challenges. (9.)
• 90% of private nonprofit college presidents strongly agree or agree that attention to student debt has led many prospective students and parents to think of college as less affordable than it is. (10.)
• 85% of private nonprofit college presidents are very or somewhat concerned about enrolling target numbers of undergraduates. (10.)
• 49.1% is the average tuition discount rate for first-time, full-time freshmen at private nonprofit institutions in 2016-17, up from 38% in 2005-06 (NACUBO data). (11.)
• 64% of admissions directors believe public discussions of student debt discourage students from considering higher education. (8.)
• Most admissions directors (85%) say they were very (55%) or moderately (30%) concerned about reaching their institution’s enrollment goals this year. (8.)
• 69.48% of college administrators cited competition for prospective students as among the greatest external challenges. (9.)
• 54.62% of college administrators cited public uncertainty about the value of higher education as among the greatest external challenges. (9.)
• 99% of private nonprofit college presidents think concerns about college affordability and student debt are somewhat or very responsible for declining public support of higher education. (10.)
• 80% of college leaders believe tuition discounting is unsustainable generally, 59% at their institution specifically. (11.)

National Undergraduate Enrollment & Student Debt Facts

• 58%: Percentage of undergraduates at private nonprofit 4-year institutions who took out student loans. (12)
• $9300: The average amount of total student loans received by undergraduates at private nonprofit 4-year institutions. (12)
• 5.1% in 2000 (increase arrow) 13.7% in 2014: Increase in percentage indicating share of all borrowers with balances over $50k. (14)
• Average total income for borrowers with less than 50k in balances has decreased from: 2000 ($44,500) to 2014 ($35,250). (14)
• At the college level, average debt for students (reported by college) covers an enormous range of $4600 – $59,100. (13)
• 42%: Percentage of students from longitudinal study of 9^th graders indicating financial reasons for not enrolling in college. (16)
• 13%: Decline in fertility rates after 2008 recession – higher education likely to see drop in demand at the end of next decade (i.e. 2020-29) standing to lose 280,000 students. (15)
• 54.4%: Percentage of undergraduates at private nonprofit 4-year institutions who took out federal Direct Loans, $6900 average amount borrowed. (12)
• 47.4%: Percentage of undergraduates at private nonprofit 4-year institutions who took out Direct Subsidized Loans, $4000 average amount borrowed. (12)”
• 47.8%: Percentage of undergraduates at private nonprofit 4-year institutions who took out Direct Unsubsidized Loans, $3900 average amount borrowed. (12)
• 57.2%: Percentage of undergraduates at private nonprofit 4-year institutions who received aid funded by the postsecondary institution they attended, $16,200 average amount funded. (12)
• 72%: Percentage of 9^th graders in longitudinal study who had enrolled in postsecondary education between completing or leaving high school and February 2016. 36% enrolled at a public 2-year college, 41% at a public 4-year college, only 16% at a private nonprofit 4-year college. (16)
• 42%: Percentage of students from longitudinal study of 9^th graders indicating financial reasons for not enrolling in college at all. (16)
• 40%: Percentage of 9^th graders in longitudinal study who had enrolled in postsecondary education but without a credential by 2016 who indicated financial reasons as cause for lack of credential. (16)”