Content area
Full Text
This article proposes a conceptual model for understanding the acquisition and use of information about college prices and financial aid. The model situates the process of acquiring and using information within several layers of context. Potential roles of four nested layers of context are discussed: habitus; the school and community context; the higher education context; and the broader social, economic, and policy context. Consideration of the model in light of available research suggests several potential explanations for differences across groups in the acquisition and use of information about college costs and financial aid.
Keywords: college access; information; financial aid; college costs; habitus
A cursory review suggests that information about college prices and financial aid is available in abundance. A Google search of the phrase financial aid for college results in 12.2 million hits, including links to countless Web sites. These Web sites (e.g., CollegeNet: Go to College, Change the World at www.collegenet.com; FinAid! The Smart Guide to Financial Aid at www.finaid.org) discuss a wide range of topics that are related to college costs and financial aid. The student aid portal on the U.S. Department of Education's homepage (www.ed.gov) also offers information for students and their parents, in both English and Spanish, about preparing financially for college, funding the costs of attendance, maintaining financial aid while attending, and repaying student loans after leaving postsecondary education, as well as other aspects of the college enrollment process.
Scores of books also promise information about college prices and financial aid. Entering the same financial aid for college phrase on the Barnes and Noble Web site generates a list of nearly 900 book titles. In addition to numerous college guides, the list includes such titles as The Everything Paying for College Book: Grants, Loans, Scholarships, and Financial Aid-All You Need to Fund Higher Education (Brown & Proper, 2005) and Free $ for College for Dummies (Rosen & Mladen, 2003). The U.S. Department of Education also offers various free publications, brochures, and fact sheets (in both English and Spanish), including Funding Your Education Beyond High School (U.S. Department of Education, 2006).
In contrast to this apparent plentitude of information, however, several recent reports suggest that most adults, parents, and students are uninformed or poorly informed about the costs of attending...