Looking far and wide, and into your jar of Peanut Butter – for college scholarships

In the Sallie Mae 2013 study on how America pays for college which surveyed 1,602 families, the average family covers 32 percent of their college costs with grants and scholarships.  The majority of families who received scholarships report having received them from the college (61%), although families also report receiving scholarships from community and nonprofit groups (30%), and receiving state-based scholarships (18%). In 2012, the average scholarship awarded was $6,355, the highest level over the past five years. The study also revealed that of the parents surveyed, 63% said that having a discussion about earning scholarship money was one of the most important conversations they could have with their child when preparing for college.

Read the entire article, my latest in a series of articles about financing college at road2college.com. 

Next up: Private vs. Public college. How to choose? If you have a story about why you chose one over the other: (financial costs, class size, prestige) let me know.