Nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of all students surveyed reported that their parents had discussed the economy in ways that suggested they were concerned about how it might affect their ability to pay for college.

Interestingly, there are no statistically meaningful subgroup differences by income level. Thirty percent of students who said their parents had talked about the economy and its impact on their ability to pay for college came from families with incomes of $50K or under. By comparison, 29 percent of students with family incomes of $50K to $75K said their parents expressed this concern as did 26 percent of students from families with incomes of $75K and above.

Among those students who said their parents had not talked to them about the economy and its effect on their ability to pay for college, students from the South and Midwest were more likely to respond this way versus students from the Southwest and West.