We are part of the majority

Next month our oldest daughter will be starting full time at a local junior college.  As I wrote earlier, this was a bit hard for us.  I had previously thought that our daughter, like most students, would go away to college.

In Going Away to College This Fall? You’re Now the Exception Brad Tuttle reports that we are part of the new majority:

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For American students, heading off to college has traditionally also meant physically going away to college. But now, at a time when college costs are soaring, and when news of young people being saddled with burdensome student loan debt is unavoidable, today’s students are trying to trim college expenses in every way possible. More than half of students, in fact, will be living at home when the fall semester begins—up significantly from the 43% of students who commuted a couple of years ago.


The just-released report from Sallie Mae shows that in a “major shift in spending,” college students themselves are paying a larger percentage of the total amount for their educations lately. Using their savings and income, undergrads spent $2,555 on average for their educations during the last academic year, up from $1,944 the previous year. Parents, by contrast, have been contributing less for their children’s college bills: $5,955 last year, down substantially from $8,752 two years prior. In total, parents footed 37% of college costs via spending or borrowing, compared to 44% of their children’s college expenses four years before. Students themselves account for 30% of the total cost of attendance, up from 24% four years earlier.
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The rest of the article is also worth reading.

Hat tip: Instapundit.