College and University Blog
Parents Pay for College? You Might Have Lower Grades As a Result
A college education is a necessity in the eyes of many people, but paying for that degree can be tough. Student loan debt continues to rise, but many students鈥� parents pay for their college educations鈥攐r at least make significant contributions towards the bill.
Sallie Mae鈥檚 found that students paid approximately 30% of their educational expenses while parents footed 37% of the total bill.
More from Mom and Dad, Lower GPA?
Interestingly, 鈥淢ore is More or More is Less? Parental Financial Investments During College,鈥� a new study conducted by University of California, Merced sociology professor Laura T. Hamilton has found that larger parental contributions may contribute to lower grades.
These results are somewhat ironic because according to most parents assume that their children will do better in school if they don鈥檛 have to spend as much time working to pay for their own expenses.
In truth, students whose entire college educations are paid for by their parents spend more time improving their social lives than they do hitting the books. While Hamilton found that these students do not necessarily 鈥減arty hearty鈥� enough to flunk out, their grades are significantly lower than students who pay for college themselves.
reports that Hamilton suggests 鈥渁 blank check from parents鈥� may cause students to care less about college, or at least not take it quite so seriously.
Graduation Rates Not Affected
Graduation rates, though, are another story. More affluent students whose parents pay for college are more likely to graduate from college than students whose parents do not contribute as much. Considering that students from wealthier families are already more likely to go to college than their poorer counterparts, lower grades may not be too much to worry about. Wealthier students can rely on their family鈥檚 connections to land a job and further financial assistance from their parents in the meantime.
It鈥檚 important to note that Hamilton鈥檚 research also found that money 鈥済iven鈥� to students from sources other than their parents鈥� grants, scholarships, work-study programs, student employment jobs, and veterans鈥� benefits鈥攄o not have similar effects on students鈥� GPAs. This is most likely because grants, scholarships, and other programs often have minimum GPA requirements while money from parents does not.
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Melissa Rhone earned her Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Tampa. She resides in the Tampa Bay area and enjoys writing about college, pop culture, and epilepsy awareness.