--- title: How Families Are Keeping a Lid on College Costs description: Even though the price of a degree is steep, a new report from Sallie Mae finds that Americans are coming up with ways to dodge higher spending. authors: - name: Kerri Anne Renzulli url: https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/ at_money_since: 2014 articles: 185 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://x.com/kerenzulli former_staff: true published: '2014-07-31T04:05:38.000Z' modified: '2024-04-16T04:06:00.000Z' section: Education tags: - College - college expenses - college saving - college spending - financial aid - Higher Education - public colleges - Sallie Mae - scholarships - Student Loans - University word_count: 436 canonical: https://money.com/college-costs-how-americans-pay-sallie-mae/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![How Families Are Keeping a Lid on College Costs](https://img.money.com/2014/06/140618_money_gen_13.jpg?quality=85&w=1012&h=569&crop=1) Despite the [rising sticker price](https://money.com/yes-college-costs-a-lot-but-heres-why-its-probably-less-than-you-think/) for a college education, American families are keeping higher education spending in check, according to Sallie Mae's annual study of how students and their parents pay for college. One key reason: families are working hard to keep costs down. This past academic year, families devoted an average of $20,882 toward a college degree, about the same amount they've paid for the past three years, and well below the 2010 high of $24,097. "Even though we read stories about tuition going up, families are really holding the line on how much they're spending," says Sallie Mae's Sarah Ducich, co-author of [*How America Pays for College*](http://news.salliemae.com/research-tools/america-pays-2013). "They’re just not willing to write a blank check, and they are taking determined steps to make college affordable for them." They also relied less on debt. Borrowed funds covered an average of 22% of college costs this year, down from 27% the previous two years and the lowest level in five years. One of the main reasons for that, says Ducich, is that more students, especially low-income ones, were awarded [grants and scholarships](https://money.com/nab-more-cash-for-college/). Overall, families are employing a number of cost-cutting measures, with the average family taking five different steps to bring expenses down, the report found. Among the biggest ways to trim education budgets: - **Enrolling in two-year schools**: In 2014 34% of students were enrolled in two-year public colleges, vs. 30% last year. That let them spend $10,060 less than four-year public school students did on average, and $23,843 less on average than their peers at four-year private schools. - **Shopping by price:** Two thirds of families reported eliminating colleges because of high costs. "This cost curve is something we saw jump post-recession, and it's stayed at this high since," Ducich says. Another 12% transferred to a less expensive school, up from 9% who did so last year. (For help finding a good education at the right price, check out our new ranking of the best college values.) - **Changing majors:** One in five families admitted to swapping majors to pursue a field that is more marketable, a trend that's been steadily rising since 2012. - **Lowering "fun" spending:** Two-thirds of students said they cut personal spending to help shoulder college costs, vs. 60% who said the same last year. - **Staying local:** A full 69% of students opted for in-state tuition to save, and more than half chose to live at home or with relatives to cut down on housing bills. *More on how to save on college:* - *Money 101 Guide to College Savings* - *[Nab More Cash for College](https://money.com/nab-more-cash-for-college/)* - *Get Your Kid to Graduate in 4 Years* ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/college-costs-how-americans-pay-sallie-mae/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Paying for College", "item": "https://money.com/paying-for-college/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How Families Are Keeping a Lid on College Costs" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/college-costs-how-americans-pay-sallie-mae/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/college-costs-how-americans-pay-sallie-mae/", "name": "How Families Are Keeping a Lid on College Costs", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2014-07-31T04:05:38.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/college-costs-how-americans-pay-sallie-mae/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/college-costs-how-americans-pay-sallie-mae/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-16T04:06:00.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "How Families Are Keeping a Lid on College Costs", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2014/06/140618_money_gen_13.jpg?quality=85", "width": 1697, "height": 1131 } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kerri Anne Renzulli", "url": "https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kerri-anne-renzulli/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/05/14-05-21_bio_author_renzulli.jpg?quality=85&w=190&h=190&crop=1", "email": "kerri.renzulli@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/kerenzulli" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2014-07-31T04:05:38.000Z", "description": "Even though the price of a degree is steep, a new report from Sallie Mae finds that Americans are coming up with ways to dodge higher spending.", "abstract": "Even though the price of a degree is steep, a new report from Sallie Mae finds that Americans are coming up with ways to dodge higher spending.", "@id": "https://money.com/college-costs-how-americans-pay-sallie-mae/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-04-16T04:06:00.000Z", "wordCount": 436, "keywords": [ "College", "college expenses", "college saving", "college spending", "financial aid", "Higher Education", "public colleges", "Sallie Mae", "scholarships", "Student Loans", "University" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Student financial aid in the United States", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_financial_aid_in_the_United_States" ] } ] } ] } ```