"The college application process time can be a nerve-wracking time for college hopefuls. However, their chief driver of stress has changed in the past two decades as students nowadays are more preoccupied with the cost of college rather than being denied their first-choice college," University Business reports.

..."But what bugs students about college costs isn’t just that it’s expensive; it’s because they rarely understand by how much. Nine out of 10 colleges either exclude or understate their net cost of attendance in student financial aid offers, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a government watchdog organization. With so many colleges hiding behind smoke and mirrors, it deepens the public perception that the cost of higher education outweighs the degree, despite the fact that the net price for private colleges has fallen by 11% in five years once adjusted for inflation.

'You see these headlines of college prices skyrocketing, that sort of thing, you know, it sends a message to low-income families that college is unaffordable,' said Jill Desjean, senior policy analyst for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, according to The Hill.

With how significantly students today regard colleges’ costs and scholarship packages when making their enrollment decision, it may prove wise to take a more transparent approach to student costs. Here are three ways to do so."

NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.

Publication Date: 10/3/2023