Sallie Mae: families spent $34,019 on college in 2025-26, up 10%

Sallie Mae's How America Pays for College 2026 report, a survey the private student lender runs each year with the research firm Ipsos, puts the average family outlay for the 2025-26 year at $34,019, roughly 10% more than the $30,837 recorded a year earlier, and finds that a slim majority of families paid less than the sticker price.

Key points

• Just under half of the money (49%) came out of family earnings and savings; free aid in the form of grants and scholarships picked up 27%, loans taken out by parents or students another 22%, and relatives or friends chipped in the remaining 2%.
• Just over half of families (52%) reported paying under the published price, and FAFSA filing rose to 74% from 71% the year before.
• Borrowing figured into 47% of families' payment mix, and 58% had mapped out how they would cover every year of college before the student enrolled.
• The findings come from an Ipsos online survey of 1,000 undergraduates and 1,000 parents fielded April 22 through May 26, 2026, and announced by Sallie Mae in a press release on Aug. 12.
• Despite the higher bill, 91% of families see college as a sound investment and 84% feel they made the right financial calls on how to pay for it.

Why it matters

Whatever your own cost sheet says, $34,019 is the survey's national average for what families reported paying last year, and the breakdown shows borrowing covered roughly a fifth of it. With the next FAFSA cycle opening this fall, the 74% completion rate is a nudge: skipping the form is the easiest way to leave grant money on the table.

This is an AI-written summary of the reporting credited above, read and edited by Nicholas before publishing. The facts and any quote belong to the original; the wording is ours. Read the original.