The Princeton Review's 2022 College Hopes & Worries Survey Reports on 14,100 College Applicants' & Parents of Applicants' "Dream" Schools, Admission Concerns, College Perspectives, and More

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Mar 16, 2022, 09:00 ET

#1 "Dream" College Among Applicants and Parents: Stanford
74% Report High Stress About Applications
Biggest Hope: Financial Aid — 80% Deem It Extremely or Very Necessary
Biggest Worry: Level of Debt to Pay for College
61% Say Pandemic Affected Their College Decisions
99% Say College Is "Worth It"

NEW YORK, March 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- It's nail-biting season for high school seniors and their parents. Replies from colleges about applications for admission and financial aid are landing now through April. By some estimates more than 10 million applications were submitted for fall 2022 admission. According to a February 2022 report by the organization Common App, applications since 2019–20 are up for almost every type of college.

The Princeton Review 2022 College Hopes & Worries Survey Logo

Hope springs eternal. So do worries, according to findings of The Princeton Review® 2022 College Hopes & Worries Survey released today. The survey, which the education services company has conducted online annually since 2003, polled 14,148 people from January 26 to March 4. Of those, 73% (10,398) were college applicants and 27% (3,750) were parents of applicants. Respondents hailed from all 50 states and DC as well as several countries abroad.

The survey asked respondents several questions that have been on the survey since 2003—from what their "dream" college is to what they consider the toughest part of the application process and the biggest benefit of having a college degree. The 2022 survey also asked respondents about recent issues including whether the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting their application decisions and experiences, and if so, how. All but one of the survey's 20 questions presented multiple-choice answers of which respondents could choose only one. Notes follow on key findings.

Top 10 "Dream" Colleges

One survey question, "What 'dream' college do you wish you (your child) could attend if acceptance and cost weren't issues?" invites a fill-in-the-blank answer. Some schools are named by hundreds of respondents as their "dream" college: others are mentioned by only one. This year, the school named by the highest number of student respondents as their "dream" college was Stanford. (Last year, it was Harvard.) Stanford also was named by the highest number of parent respondents this year as their "dream" college for their child. (Last year, it also was Stanford).

The 10 schools named "dream" colleges by the highest number of surveyed students were:

Stanford University (CA)
Harvard College (MA)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Princeton University (NJ)
Columbia University (NY)
Yale University (CT)
University of California—Los Angeles
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas—Austin

The 10 schools named "dream" colleges by the highest number of surveyed parents were:

Stanford University (CA)
Princeton University (NJ)
Harvard College (MA)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yale University (CT)
New York University
University of Texas—Austin
Cornell University (NY)
Columbia University (NY)
University of California—Los Angeles

Findings based on responses to questions with multiple choice answers indicate:

· College applications are stressful, and more so among students than parents.

Among respondents overall, 74% reported "Very High" or "High" stress about their applications. A higher percentage of students (76%) than parents (69%) reported such levels of stress. Twenty years ago, in 2003, the survey's initial year, only 56% of respondents reported "Very High" or "High" stress. Then, as now, a higher percentage of students (57%) than parents (50%) reported such stress.

· Financial aid is the biggest hope.

Asked how necessary financial aid will be to pay for college, 80% of respondents chose the answers "Extremely" or "Very." Of that cohort, the majority (52%) deemed aid "Extremely" necessary while 28% deemed it "Very" necessary. Another 18% said aid will be "Somewhat" necessary. Only 2% said "Not at all" necessary. Fifteen years ago, in 2007, when this question was first asked on the survey, 78% of respondents deemed financial aid "Extremely" or "Very" necessary.

· Debt is the biggest worry.

Asked what their biggest concern was about their applications, the plurality (39%) of respondents overall chose the answer, "Level of debt to pay for the degree." (That has been answer chosen by the plurality of respondents for nine years, since 2013.) This year, 28% of respondents chose the answer, "Will get into first-choice college, but won't be able to afford to attend," while 24% selected the answer, "Won't get into first-choice college." Twenty years ago, in 2003, the majority (52%) of respondents chose the answer, "Won't get into first-choice college," while the lowest percentage (6%) chose the answer, "Level of debt to pay for the degree."

· COVID-19 has affected decisions about colleges.

Asked if—and if so, how—the coronavirus pandemic had affected their decisions about colleges they were considering, the majority (61%) of respondents selected answer choices indicating it had. Of that cohort, 31% said they were applying to colleges "With lower sticker prices," and 20% said they were applying to colleges "Closer to home." Just 5% said they were applying to colleges "With smaller student bodies (or in less densely populated areas)," and 5% said they were applying to colleges "With on-campus medical centers or located near hospitals." A large group, 39%, said the pandemic had not affected their decisions about colleges.

· Tests are the toughest part of applications.

Asked which aspect of the application process was toughest, the plurality (34%) chose the answer, "Taking the SAT®, ACT®, or AP® exams." (That has been the answer chosen by the plurality for 16 of the past 20 years.) Nearly as many respondents this year, 33%, chose the answer "Completing applications for admission and aid;" 22% chose "Waiting for decision letters and choosing which college to attend," and 11% chose "Researching colleges."

· More students this year have taken (or plan to take) the SAT than the ACT.

Asked which admission test(s) they (their child) had taken or planned to take, the plurality (47%) chose the answer, "The SAT," while 15% said "The ACT." "Both tests" said 29%, and only 9% said "Neither test." In 2020, the first year this question was on the survey, 43% said "Both tests"; 34% said "The SAT"; 14% said "The ACT," and 9% said "Neither test."

· "Overall fit" and "programs supporting career interests" matter more in applicants' decisions about colleges than "academic reputation" and "affordability."

Asked to characterize the college they were most likely to choose to attend, the plurality (42%) selected the answer, "College that will be the best overall fit." Nearly as many, 36%, selected "College with the best program for my (my child's) career interests." Only 13% choose the answer, "College with the best academic reputation"; 9% chose "College that will be most affordable."

· The biggest benefit of a college degree is the prospect of a better job.

Asked what they considered the major benefit of earning a college degree, 43% (the plurality) selected the answer, "Potentially better job and income," while 32% chose "Exposure to new ideas," and 25% chose "Education."

· Parents and students differ on the distance from home of "ideal" college.

Asked how far from home their (their child's) "ideal" college would be, 47% of parent respondents chose the answer "Fewer than 250 miles." However, 66% of student respondents selected answer choices in ranges exceeding 250 miles (and 13% of that cohort chose the answer, "More than 1,000 miles"). For 15 years, since 2007 when this question was added to the survey, parents' and students' opinions on this have changed little.

· College is widely considered "worth it."

Nearly all—99% of respondents—said "Yes" when asked if they believe college will be worth it.

Other questions on the survey asked respondents their estimates of their college costs, and the number of colleges to which they are applying. Survey findings also report on whether information about how "green" a college is (i.e., its commitment to the environment) or information about the school's career services would contribute to respondents' decisions to apply to or attend a school. A survey report showing all questions, answer choices, and findings (broken out by respondents overall, by students, and by parents) is here.

Advice from Surveyed Students and Parents

An optional question on the survey has annually invited respondents to share their advice for next year's applicants and their parents. For 20 years, "Start early" has been the most common advice—indeed, exhortation—from students and parents alike. Other advice from respondents this year included this from a Connecticut mother: "Don't stress! This will only lose good time with your child during the last year they are home." A father from Georgia wrote five words: "Diligence. Patience. Research. Visit. Love." A student from Maryland said "Keep in mind what you (future student) want out of colleges. If you want them to enhance your career, ask are there ways they can help with it? College is like finding a partner." A Minnesota student simply said "It's all gonna be alright." The Princeton Review has posted samplers of best advice from surveyed students and parents here.

About The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review® is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students achieve their education and career goals through its: online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is now in its 41^st year. The company's Tutor.com brand, now in its 21^st year, is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 21 million one-to-one tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on Twitter (@ThePrincetonRev ) and Instagram ( @theprincetonreview ).

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