Sallie Mae Fund and Harris Interactive. 2003. <em>Financial Aid: The Information Divide.</em> Accessed August 1, 2007 from http://www.thesalliemaefund.org/smfnew/news/2003/news_nr184b.html.<br />
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This survey was conducted for the Sallie Mae Fund by Harris Interactive and involved 1,090 telephone interviews of parents and 811 students aged 18 to 24. The study reports vast inequalities among students and parents in terms of possessing financial aid information. Many parents and students are not aware of basic sources of financial aid and can not name scholarships or grants as a source of financial aid. Low-income and Latino families tend to get financial information later than upper income and other families. Lower income and minority parents are also less likely to identify common sources of financial aid. Nearly half of all parents wish that they had more information about paying for college. This study is part of a three-year initiative of Sallie Mae's called Project Access, which was designed to improve access to higher education, targeting underserved populations through increased media exposure, distribution of bilingual educational materials, and scholarship endowments.<br />
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Zarate, Maria Estela and Harry P. Pachon. 2006. <em>Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth.</em> Los Angeles, CA: Tomas Rivera Policy Institute (TRPI).<br />
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	Using a survey administered to 400 Latino youth between the ages of 18 and 24 in California, Zarate and Pachon examine how the respondents perceive college costs, financial aid access, and benefits and opportunity costs of college attendance, as well as what they know about Cal grants, Pell Grants, and loan instruments. The study finds that nearly all of the respondents believe that it is important to have a college education but that almost 38 percent of the respondents do not believe that the benefits of college outweigh the costs of attending. Regarding access to aid, an overwhelming number of respondents say that financial aid is an important factor in their college plans. However, many of them (including foreign-born permanent residents) are not familiar with sources of financial aid or believe erroneously that students have to be U.S. citizens to apply for financial aid. Few students can correctly estimate the cost of attending a University of California or California State University. Many respondents are unfamiliar with grants and loans as sources of financial aid, and most are unwilling to incur debt for college. Additionally, students cite the complexity of the FAFSA and misconceptions about aid programs as barriers. The authors offer several recommendations, such as encouraging discourse on the benefits of college, correcting perceptions of college costs through media exposure, recognizing that access to Spanish translations is not equivalent to knowledge of financial aid concepts, and understanding that Latino youth are often responsible for taking the initiative in securing financial aid information as well as contributing to the economic well-being of their households.