Parents Increasingly Expect Kids to Pay for College

Published

February 23, 2018

Jill Krasny is a former editor for Credit.com. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Esquire, The Financial Times and Travel + Leisure.

With college tuitions skyrocketing, it’s no surprise parents are worried whether they have enough to cover the cost. According to the fifth annual survey from Discover Student Loans, nearly half (48%) of 1,000 adults surveyed with kids aged 16 to 18 expect their child to pay for most or all their education, up from 39% in 2012.

“While a vast majority of parents still report that they want to help their children pay for college, it’s clear that students are being asked to take on more financial ownership than in previous years,” Danny Ray, president of Discover Student Loans, said in a press release. And often they aren’t prepared.

Perhaps to ease the pain of that burden, nearly 43% of parents plan to limit their child’s college cost based on price, while 55% say their children plan to use loans to help pay for college, up from 50% in 2012.

Fortunately, parents seem willing to help their children if they take out a loan, Discover found, with 61% saying they’re very or somewhat likely to help them pay back loans, up from 55% in 2012.

If you’re in the market for a student loan, it’s important to scope out all your options, lest you get saddled with a plan that’s less than ideal for your personal situation — or more than your budget can handle. Remember, defaulting on a loan can seriously damage your credit score, and because student loans are rarely discharged in bankruptcy, the debt could haunt you for years. There’s a handy new formula out that can help you determine just how much is too much when it comes to student loan debt. And, if you’re already paying your student loans, you can see how your repayments are impacting your credit scores for free at Credit.com.