How America Pays for College 2022 - Sallie Mae’s National Study of College Students and Parents

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah

How America Pays for College 2022 presents findings from a national study of college students and their parents on attitudes toward higher education and strategies for funding college. Building on a decade of survey tracking, it examines sources such as family income, savings, scholarships, grants, and borrowed funds, alongside steps families take to improve affordability. The report analyzes changes in payment approaches, FAFSA® understanding and submission patterns, and perceptions of online versus in-person learning in the post-COVID-19 context.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages95

Reading Time3 h 59 min

AccessFree to download

Key Insights

Families and funding strategies

FAFSA understanding and submission

Scholarships misconceptions

Borrowing and confidence

Online learning preferences

Conclusion

2022 How America Pays for College Sallie Mae’s national study of college students and parents Conducted by Ipsos How America Pays for College 2022 We are on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journeys—helping them plan and pay for college, earn their degrees, and feel ready for what’s next. As the leader in private education lending, we provide financing and expertise to support college access and completion. Start smart. Learn big.SM Sallie Mae | Ipsos ii We believe college should be affordable, equitable, and accessible for all students, and we’re committed to making that a reality. We make planning and paying for college simpler by providing free tools to access scholarships, helping families complete the FAFSA®, and offering personalized support in setting and reaching their financial goals. We also offer a suite of private student loan products for undergraduates and graduates to help families responsibly finance their higher education. Students and families want help navigating this important time in their lives. We’re committed to helping them understand their options, make smart choices, and set themselves up for success now and in the future. Ipsos is the world’s third-largest insightsand analytics company. Our team of 18,000 across 90 countries serves 5,000 clients and undertakes 70,000 different projects each year. Our polling practice is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research. As a global research and insights organization, Ipsos aims to make our changing world easier and faster to navigate and to inspire our clients to make smarter decisions. We are committed to driving the industry with innovative, best-in-class research techniques that are meaningful in today’s connected society. We deliver research with security, speed, simplicity, and substance. Our tagline “Game Changers” summarizes our ambition. Our broad range of industry experts offers an intimate understanding of people, markets, brands, and society. Whether testing communications content, bringing concepts to market, assessing customer experience, or gauging public opinion, Ipsos strives to identify and offer the right solutions to our client’s specific challenges. Ipsos is committed to building an organization dedicated to a single endeavor: providing our clients with the best service, using qualitative or quantitative methods, at local, regional, and international levels. This is what drives us to ask and probe, to subject our hypotheses to rigorous analyses, and, finally, to deliver reliable data and the most effective recommendations in the shortest time possible. FAFSA is a registered service mark of U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid. © 2022 Sallie Mae Bank. All rights reserved. Sallie Mae, the Sallie Mae logo, and other Sallie Mae names are service marks or registered service marks of Sallie Mae Bank. All other names and logos used are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Sallie Mae Bank, are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America. SMSM_43603 0822 How America Pays for College 2022 Sallie Mae | Ipsos iii For 15 years, Sallie Mae has surveyed college students and parents of undergraduate students about their attitudes toward higher education and how they’re paying for it. How America Pays for College explores education funding sources—from family income and savings to scholarships, grants, and borrowed funds—and evaluates trends in payment strategies over time. The report also identifies attitudes related to the value of a higher education and the steps students and parents take to make it more affordable. In addition

FAQs

What does How America Pays for College 2022 examine about college funding?

It evaluates how families pay for college, including contributions from income and savings, scholarships and grants, and borrowed funds, and it tracks trends in payment strategies over time.

How does the report address FAFSA® and students’ understanding of it?

It highlights that FAFSA® remains confusing for students and families and reviews misconceptions that may deter families from applying, along with patterns in submission rates.

What learning preference trends does the report discuss?

The report summarizes reviews of online learning and shows that most families prefer having at least some in-person learning.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Sarah