- #1 “Dream” College Among Applicants and Parents: Stanford
- 74% Report High Stress About Applications
- Biggest Hope: Financial Aid — 80% Deem It Extremely or Very Necessary
- Biggest Worry: Level of Debt to Pay for College
- 61% Say Pandemic Affected Their College Decisions
- 99% Say College Is “Worth It”
It’s nail-biting season for high school seniors and their parents. Replies from colleges about applications for admission and financial aid are landing now through April. By some estimates more than 10 million applications were submitted for fall 2022 admission. According to a February 2022 report by the organization Common App, applications since 2019–20 are up for almost every type of college.
Hope springs eternal. So do worries, according to findings of The Princeton Review® 2022 College Hopes & Worries Survey released today. The survey, which the education services company has conducted online annually since 2003, polled 14,148 people from January 26 to March 4. Of those, 73% (10,398) were college applicants and 27% (3,750) were parents of applicants. Respondents hailed from all 50 states and DC as well as several countries abroad.
The survey asked respondents several questions that have been on the survey since 2003—from what their “dream” college is to what they consider the toughest part of the application process and the biggest benefit of having a college degree. The 2022 survey also asked respondents about recent issues including whether the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting their application decisions and experiences, and if so, how. All but one of the survey’s 20 questions presented multiple-choice answers of which respondents could choose only one. Notes follow on key findings.
Top 10 “Dream” Colleges
One survey question, “What ‘dream’ college do you wish you (your child) could attend if acceptance and cost weren’t issues?” invites a fill-in-the-blank answer. Some schools are named by hundreds of respondents as their “dream” college: others are mentioned by only one. This year, the school named by the highest number of student respondents as their “dream” college was Stanford. (Last year, it was Harvard.) Stanford also was named by the highest number of parent respondents this year as their “dream” college for their child. (Last year, it also was Stanford).
The 10 schools named “dream” colleges by the highest number of surveyed students were:
- Stanford University (CA)
- Harvard College (MA)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- New York University
- Princeton University (NJ)
- Columbia University (NY)
- Yale University (CT)
- University of California—Los Angeles
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Texas—Austin
The 10 schools named “dream” colleges by the highest number of surveyed parents were:
- Stanford University (CA)
- Princeton University (NJ)
- Harvard College (MA)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Yale University (CT)
- New York University
- University of Texas—Austin
- Cornell University (NY)
- Columbia University (NY)
- University of California—Los Angeles
Findings based on responses to questions with multiple choice answers indicate:
· College applications are stressful, and more so among students than parents.
Among respondents overall, 74% reported “Very High” or “High” stress about their applications. A higher percentage of students (76%) than parents (69%) reported such levels of stress. Twenty years ago, in 2003, the survey’s initial year, only 56% of respondents reported “Very High” or “High” stress. Then, as now, a higher percentage of students (57%) than parents (50%) reported such stress.
· Financial aid is the biggest hope.
Asked how necessary financial aid will be to pay for college, 80% of respondents chose the answers “Extremely” or “Very.” Of that cohort, the majority (52%) deemed aid “Extremely” necessary while 28% deemed it “Very” necessary. Another 18% said aid will be “Somewhat” necessary. Only 2% said “Not at all” necessary. Fifteen years ago, in 2007, when this question was first asked on the survey, 78% of respondents deemed financial aid “Extremely” or “Very” necessary.
· Debt is the biggest worry.
Asked what their biggest concern was about their applications, the plurality (39%) of respondents overall chose the answer, “Level of debt to pay for the degree.” (That has been answer chosen by the plurality of respondents for nine years, since 2013.) This year, 28% of respondents chose the answer, “Will get into first-choice college, but won’t be able to afford to attend,” while 24% selected the answer, “Won’t get into first-choice college.” Twenty years ago, in 2003, the majority (52%) of respondents chose the answer, “Won’t get into first-choice college,” while the lowest percentage (6%) chose the answer, “Level of debt to pay for the degree.”
· COVID-19 has affected decisions about colleges.
Asked if—and if so, how—the coronavirus pandemic had affected their decisions about colleges they were considering, the majority (61%) of respondents selected answer choices indicating it had. Of that cohort, 31% said they were applying to colleges “With lower sticker prices,” and 20% said they were applying to colleges “Closer to home.” Just 5% said they were applying to colleges “With smaller student bodies (or in less densely populated areas),” and 5% said they were applying to colleges “With on-campus medical centers or located near hospitals.” A large group, 39%, said the pandemic had not affected their decisions about colleges.
· Tests are the toughest part of applications.
Asked which aspect of the application process was toughest, the plurality (34%) chose the answer, “Taking the SAT®, ACT®, or AP® exams.” (That has been the answer chosen by the plurality for 16 of the past 20 years.) Nearly as many respondents this year, 33%, chose the answer “Completing applications for admission and aid;” 22% chose “Waiting for decision letters and choosing which college to attend,” and 11% chose “Researching colleges.”
· More students this year have taken (or plan to take) the SAT than the ACT.
Asked which admission test(s) they (their child) had taken or planned to take, the plurality (47%) chose the answer, “The SAT,” while 15% said “The ACT.” “Both tests” said 29%, and only 9% said “Neither test.” In 2020, the first year this question was on the survey, 43% said “Both tests”; 34% said “The SAT”; 14% said “The ACT,” and 9% said “Neither test.”
· “Overall fit” and “programs supporting career interests” matter more in applicants’ decisions about colleges than “academic reputation” and “affordability.”
Asked to characterize the college they were most likely to choose to attend, the plurality (42%) selected the answer, “College that will be the best overall fit.” Nearly as many, 36%, selected “College with the best program for my (my child’s) career interests.” Only 13% choose the answer, “College with the best academic reputation”; 9% chose “College that will be most affordable.”
· The biggest benefit of a college degree is the prospect of a better job.
Asked what they considered the major benefit of earning a college degree, 43% (the plurality) selected the answer, “Potentially better job and income,” while 32% chose “Exposure to new ideas,” and 25% chose “Education.”
· Parents and students differ on the distance from home of “ideal” college.
Asked how far from home their (their child’s) “ideal” college would be, 47% of parent respondents chose the answer “Fewer than 250 miles.” However, 66% of student respondents selected answer choices in ranges exceeding 250 miles (and 13% of that cohort chose the answer, “More than 1,000 miles”). For 15 years, since 2007 when this question was added to the survey, parents’ and students’ opinions on this have changed little.
