Relationships between College Costs and College Funding : Evidence from the United States

In the last few decades, college tuition costs have escalated to what some have described as astronomical levels. This has led to a heavier reliance by college students on alternative sources beyond family financing. Such sources have included grants, scholarships, private loans, federal loans and alas credit cards. This study examines the impact of this increased and high tuition costs on the source of funding options students pursue and apply to their college education. Five factors indicated a strong relationship for the students who took loans – namely students who had been in school longer were less likely to take loans, students who had entered the college from another four-year college were also more likely to take loans, students from families with higher incomes were also less likely to take loans and students who were later in their family to go to college were also less likely to take a loan