40% of Families Feel Alone in College Planning

If your family's college financial planning feels confusing and isolating, you are not an outlier.

Sallie Mae and research firm Ipsos released "How America Plans for College 2026" this week — a nationally representative survey of 1,005 high school students ages 14–18 and 1,005 parents of high school students.¹ The findings reveal a striking gap between families' confidence in college as an investment and their actual knowledge of how to pay for it.

The Good News: Families Still Believe in College

The optimism in the data is real. Nearly all high school students — 95% — say they plan to continue their education after graduation.¹ Ninety percent of families view college as an investment in the student's future, and 82% say it will be worth the cost.

That belief translates into action: 64% of families have a plan to pay for higher education, up from 54% in 2020. Average college savings have grown too — families report saving an average of $42,307 for college, up from $26,266 in 2020.¹

The Problem: Most Families Don't Understand How College Pricing Works

Here's where the numbers get uncomfortable. Despite growing savings and widespread belief in college's value, the same survey shows that most families carry serious misunderstandings about how college actually gets paid for.

Scholarships aren't just for straight-A students — but most families think they are. Nearly half of families surveyed (48%) believe scholarships are only available to students with exceptional grades.¹ That's not accurate. Thousands of scholarships are based on community service, field of study, heritage, location, financial need, or specific personal circumstances. Grade-based awards exist, but they are one category among many.

Most families don't know they can pay less than the sticker price. Only 37% of families know that colleges often charge less than the advertised price — meaning 63% may be making college decisions based on list price rather than expected net price.¹ This matters enormously. A college that lists tuition at $60,000 might actually cost a middle-income family $25,000 after grants and institutional aid. Families who don't know to look for the net price calculator are potentially ruling out schools they could afford.

Student loan interest is widely misunderstood. Just 22% of families surveyed know when federal student loan interest typically begins to accrue.¹ For unsubsidized loans, interest starts accumulating from the moment the loan is disbursed — not after graduation. For most students, that means interest is building throughout all four years of college, even if no payments are required yet.

Federal unsubsidized loan interest begins accruing the day your loan is disbursed — not after you graduate. If you don't pay the interest while in school, it capitalizes (gets added to your principal), increasing the total you owe. Check our guide to average student loan debt to understand what borrowing typically costs.

40% Say They're On Their Own

The most telling number in the Sallie Mae report: four in ten families considering higher education say they feel they are on their own when it comes to planning and paying for college.¹

That's not a fringe experience — it describes roughly 40% of American families with college-age students.

This isolation shows up in practical terms. Families who feel unsupported are more likely to make decisions based on incomplete information: overestimating costs at schools with strong aid programs, underestimating loan interest, assuming scholarships are out of reach, or skipping the FAFSA altogether.

If your family has completed the FAFSA, you should also request or compare net price estimates from each school — not the published sticker price. Every college is required to have a net price calculator on its website. A school that looks unaffordable at $65,000 per year may cost your family $20,000 after aid. See our FAFSA help guide and the CSS Profile vs. FAFSA breakdown to understand what each school requires.

The AI Factor Is Already Reshaping Career Planning

The 2026 survey added a new dimension that wasn't in earlier editions: questions about artificial intelligence and career planning. The results signal that AI anxiety is now part of how families think about college's value.

Seventy-nine percent of parents and students agree that AI skills will be essential in many future careers.¹ Sixty-nine percent believe AI will create new job and career opportunities. But 46% worry that AI may make it harder for the student to enter the workforce, and 37% say a parent has already advised the student to reconsider career plans because of AI's evolution.

Perhaps most telling: 28% of students say they have already changed their career goals because of how AI is developing.¹

For a report about college financial planning, that's a striking finding. It means that for more than a quarter of current high school students, AI-related uncertainty is already influencing decisions about what to study — and therefore which colleges to apply to and how much to spend.

What Families Should Actually Do With This Information

These knowledge gaps are fixable. None of them require a financial advisor or a paid counselor. Here's where to start:

1. Search for scholarships beyond merit. Use free databases and look for scholarships specific to your major, location, heritage, or personal background. Our 2026 scholarship strategy guide walks through how to find awards that most families miss.

2. Use net price calculators before ruling out any school. Every college's website has one. The result won't be your exact aid offer, but it's a far more accurate estimate than sticker price.

3. Understand your aid offer before accepting. If you've received a financial aid package, compare it across schools. Our guide on how to compare financial aid offers explains what to look for.

4. Know the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Subsidized loans don't accrue interest while you're enrolled at least half-time. Unsubsidized loans do. That distinction matters when calculating what you'll actually owe. See our breakdown of average student loan payments.

5. Start the FAFSA early. Many state and institutional aid programs use FAFSA data on a first-come, first-served basis. Filing in October when the form opens gives you a meaningful advantage over waiting until spring.

For families at earlier stages of the planning process, the college planning checklist lays out a year-by-year roadmap from freshman year through acceptance. And if affordability is your family's primary lens, the college planning guide for low-income families addresses the specific strategies that matter most for students who qualify for significant need-based aid.

The Sallie Mae report's findings aren't discouraging — they're a roadmap. The families who fill in these knowledge gaps before signing anything have a real advantage over the 63% who still think sticker price is what they'll pay.

Footnotes

1. Sallie Mae and Ipsos. (2026). How America Plans for College 2026. Sallie Mae. https://news.salliemae.com/news-releases/news-releases-details/2026/New-Sallie-Mae-and-Ipsos-Study-Finds-Overwhelming-Majority-of-High-School-Students-Plan-to-Continue-Their-Education-After-Graduation/default.aspx ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

2. CNBC. (2026, May 7). Families still see college as a good investment — figuring out how to pay for it is the challenge. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/07/college-investment.html ↩