New Poll Shows Lack of Awareness About Financial Aid Is a Barrier to College for Florida's Minoritiescivilrights.org
http://www.civilrights.org/issues/affirmative/details.cfm?id=36734
By Ryan Banfill
October 13, 2005
Ninety five percent of Hispanic young people and 80 percent of African-American young people in Florida not currently enrolled in college said they would have been more likely to attend college if they had better information about how to pay for it. That's the result of a new Mason-Dixon poll released by The Sallie Mae Fund.
The survey is part of The Sallie Mae Fund's new $1 million financial aid awareness campaign aimed at closing the financial-aid information gap that hinders many low-income and minority Floridians from pursuing a college education. The centerpiece of the campaign is a 10-city, seven-county "Paying for College" bus tour in partnership with local financial aid experts. The tour will feature workshops on planning and paying for college for high school students and their parents in Spanish and English, one-on-one counseling, and free educational materials.
The survey also found that 60 percent of respondents said they would have been better students in high school if they had known that financial aid was available.
Other key findings of the survey include:
* An overwhelming majority -- more than 80 percent -- of Hispanic and African-American youths surveyed said that a college education is important to an individual's "future opportunities, financial security and happiness."
* A substantial majority from each group said they would make their child's education a top priority.
* Cost was by far the most frequently mentioned obstacle to attending college, cited by half the respondents.
"The lack of knowledge about financial resources continues to be an unnecessary barrier to a college education for too many Americans," said Kathleen deLaski, president of The Sallie Mae Fund. "We are delighted to be working to enhance Florida's outreach efforts."
The bus tour will include the following cities:
Tallahassee, FL - October 10 & 11
Jacksonville, FL - October 13 & 14
Orlando, FL - October 17 & 18
Kissimmee, FL - October 19 & 20
Tampa, FL - October 21 & 22
Hollywood, FL - October 24 & 25
Pembroke Pines, FL - October 26 & 27
Hialeah, FL - October 28 & 29
Homestead, FL - November 1 & 2
Miami, FL - November 3-5
To view the full news release and poll results, visit:
http://www.ronsachs.com/salliemae
* On average, four in 10 "potentials" said they were unfamiliar with the types of financial aid available. That percentage is more than twice that of college "achievers."
* On average, about a third of all respondents said they did not receive any financial aid information during middle or high school. College achievers reported faring better than their potential counterparts: Just 26 percent of all achievers report not receiving information, compared to 42 percent of potentials.
Copyright© 2005 Leadership Conference on Civil Rights / Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund
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