Sallie Mae is committed to promoting financial literacy, smart borrowing, and healthy credit. As part of this commitment, we ask the public about their experiences with saving, planning and paying for college and report on them. In an effort to foster data-driven decisionmaking among students, families, and schools, Sallie Mae and our subsidiaries conduct a number of studies, including:

• With Sallie Mae, Gallup has developed the first-ever mathematically representative picture of how the typical American family pays for college based on in-depth statistical analysis of more than 1,400 parents and students. In addition, How America Pays for College provides critical insight into the attitudes, choices, and concerns of American families when they plan and pay for college.
• An annual Survey of Parents of College Bound Freshmen, aimed at finding out the preferences and experiences of families planning and paying for the first year of college.
• Through its Nellie Mae subsidiary, the company also conducts a bi-annual survey series of College Students and Credit Cards, prompted by concern over increasing credit activity among college students who might be better served seeking lower cost financing alternatives.
• The Upromise College Preparedness Report Card is a snapshot of families' education goals and of their attitudes and concerns about applying to and paying for college.

Other resources

The College Board releases statistics every year on Trends in College Pricing 2007 (PDF, 983KB) and Trends in Student Aid 2007 (PDF, 1.36MB). In addition, they release a study on how Education Pays 2007 (PDF, 557KB).