Horn, Laura, Xianglei Chen, and Chris Chapman. 2003. <em>Getting Ready to Pay for College: What Students and Their Parents Know About the Cost of College Tuition and What They Are Doing to Find Out.</em> Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.<br />
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Using data from the Parent and Youth Surveys of the 1999 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES:1999), Horn et al. investigate how much college-bound 6th through 12th graders and their parents know about the cost of attending college, and the relationships between their knowledge of college costs and how they go about preparing for college. In particular, the study asks whether parents started to save for their children's education, gathered information on financial aid, and knew about various tax credits to help offset costs. A total of 7,910 students from 6th through 12th grade were asked what they know about college costs, academic requirements, and financial aid availability. The authors find that almost all students and their parents plan on the students attending college, but only 18 percent of students and 30 percent of parents obtain information about the cost of college. Overall, both students and parents substantially overestimate tuition amounts, especially for public institutions. Only 25 percent of 11th and 12th graders and 31 percent of their parents are able to provide accurate estimates. The authors also find that parents are more likely to start saving for college as their household income and their child's academic standing increases. However, there is no correlation between how soon a student will enroll in college and their parents' plans to pay for college. From the students' end, most report that they discuss the academic requirements of attending college with parents or teachers/counselors; however, less than half of students report discussing college costs or financial aid. In general, there are also varying levels of cost awareness depending on students' grade in high school, racial background, household income, parents' educational level, and extent to which the parent or student actively seeks information about financial aid. The authors conclude that lack of cost awareness is most apparent in younger students, low-income and minority students, and their families. However, parents who are involved in their childrens&#8218; school are more likely to have begun saving for college and report a higher awareness of college costs, regardless of income and education levels.