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College Funding
The U.S. Department of Education reports that in the 1999-2000 school
year, approximately 16.5 million undergraduates enrolled in 2 and 4 year
American postsecondary institutions. They also identified that one of the
strongest risk factors for those students causing them to pause or stop
their course of study as financial need.
Learn
about the Internet Resource guide for accessing College grants and
scholarships.
Overall, in 2002, Federal support for education was estimated to be
$147.9, an 81% increase since 1980. Postsecondary education accounts
for approximately $22.6 billion of these dollars, an increase of
24% since 1990. A portion of this $22.6 billion dollars is targeted at
students, in terms of grants, loans and other aid funding.
The question arises - from what sources do students get their college
funding? How is this money accessed by college students? A number of
studies carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics
revealed the following:
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Approximately 16.5
million students were enrolled in undergraduate programs, both full
and part time, in 1990-2000
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Over 55% of these
students (9.2 million) received some kind of financial aid
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The average dollar
amount of this aid was $6,206
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40% of those receiving
aid only received grants
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13% of those receiving
aid only received loans
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26% received a
combination of grants and loans
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8% received a
combination of grants, loans and work-study
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13% received aid from
other sources
These studies also
discovered that both family income and the type of institution
played a major role in determining receipt of financial aid.
Family Income
For dependent students:
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70% of undergraduates
from families with annual incomes < $20,000 received aid
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25% of undergraduates
from families with annual incomes > $100,000 received aid
For independent
students:
Type of Institution
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47% of undergraduates
at private, non profit 4 year institutions received an average
of $6,760 in aid
Of full time students:
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40% of undergraduates
at public 2 year institutions received financial aid
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56% of undergraduates
at public 4 year institutions received aid
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67% of those at
private, non profit 4 year institutions received aid
Students receiving Federal Pell Grants or Stafford
Loans
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Federal Pell Grants -
an estimated 30% of full time undergraduates received a Pell
Grant averaging $2,314
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Stafford Loans -
nearly 23% of undergraduates received a Stafford loan averaging
$3,214
These figures
demonstrate the degree to which college funding by the Federal government
is responsible for helping students participate in post secondary
education. It is vitally important that all students understand how to
access this funding and the many ways in which it is awarded.
Find colleges and universities across the United
States
The National Center for Education Statistics
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