About 7.1 million full-time college students receive some form of
financial aid to help pay for their education, according to the most
recent findings from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau.
"About 6-in-10 full-time students got help from outside their
families in paying for college," said Camille Ryan, co-author of
Financing
the Future Postsecondary Students, Costs and Financial Aid:
1996-97, which was released today.
"That's 1.5 million more full-time students receiving aid than we
found in our previous survey, which was conducted in 1993-94," she
added. "The most common sources of assistance were student loans and
fellowships and scholarships. Average aid among those receiving help
totaled $6,022 and covered an average of 62 percent of the student's
costs per year."
The report examines full-time postsecondary students, the
characteristics of the schools they attended and the costs and
financing associated with their education.
Other findings from the report for the 1996-97 academic year
include:
Nearly half of all full-time students received aid from more
than one source.
African Americans and Hispanics reported higher rates of
financial aid receipt than non-Hispanic Whites and Asians and
Pacific Islanders.
Aid packages for full-time graduate students covered an average
of 71 percent of their schooling expenses.
More than half of full-time students came from families with
annual incomes of less than $50,000.
Average annual tuition, book costs and room and board totaled
about $8,700 a year for full-time students; full-time graduate
students had the highest average costs: $13,518 a year.
About 7-in-10 full-time students under age 25 were claimed as
dependents on their parents' income tax returns.
The report uses data from the Survey of Income and Program
Participation and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
Institutional Characteristics Survey. Statistics from sample surveys
are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.
Posted October 18, 2002 on www.NASFAA.org, the Web Site of the
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators
(NASFAA).
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