Ardeo News
The Cost Stress Story: The Hidden Reality of College Planning
Author: Raquel Bermejo, Ed.D., Associate Vice President of Market Research, Encoura+RNL
FINANCIAL STRESS IS THE STARTING POINT
It does not start with a campus visit. It starts with a quiet calculation and, for many families, a quiet panic. Families are not casually exploring college. They are entering the process already overwhelmed by the cost, and that stress is shaping everything.
55% of families say paying for college will be difficult or very difficult, nearly 9 in 10 feel some level of financial strain, and yet 78% still believe college is worth it (RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP, 2025). That contradiction should stop us. Families believe in the promise of higher education, but they are not confident they can afford it. Nationally, the pattern holds. Only about half of Americans believe college is affordable, and 62% say cost is the main reason students do not enroll or complete college (Nguyen et al., 2025). This is not hesitation, this is pressure.
STRESS STARTS BEFORE THE SEARCH
Affordability is not something families figure out later. It is where they begin, and where many quietly stop. Before a student ever imagines themselves on a campus, 72% of families have already ruled out schools based on sticker price (RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP, 2025). And this is not a one-off reaction; it is a pattern. 79% of families eliminate at least one school based on cost alone (Sallie Mae & Ipsos, 2025). That means decisions are being made before anyone explains net price, before financial aid is understood, before an offer ever arrives.
And here is where it gets more uncomfortable: families are not even making these decisions with accurate information. Most Americans significantly overestimate college costs, and only a small share can correctly identify what college actually costs (Ward et al., 2025).
So, what happens? Families fill in the gaps themselves, and they assume the worst. They plan for a number that may not even be real, and then they act on it. The college planning process is not expansive, it is defensive, and it is filtered by fear before facts.
NOT ALL STRESS LOOKS THE SAME
But this pressure does not land the same way for every family, and pretending it does is part of the problem.
For first-generation families, the process begins without a roadmap. 40% say paying for college will be very difficult (RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP, 2025). There is no inherited knowledge of how financial aid works, no family experience to lean on, no one to say, “Here’s what this really costs.” What replaces that clarity is uncertainty, and uncertainty becomes fear.
For lower-income families, the challenge is even more direct. 47% say paying for college will be very difficult (RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP, 2025). These families are navigating real financial constraints without the safety nets that make risk possible, limited savings, limited access to guidance, and limited confidence in systems that were not built with them in mind.
And then there are middle-income families, who are often invisible in this conversation. They do not qualify for enough aid to feel supported, but they do not have the resources to absorb the cost. They are expected to “figure it out,” navigating a gap between what they are told college costs and what they are asked to pay (RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP, 2025).
Across all of these groups, one thing is consistent: families are making decisions without a clear understanding of net price or aid. Misperceptions are widespread, and they matter (Ward et al., 2025). This is not just about who can pay; it is about who feels confident enough to try.
STRESS CHANGES BEHAVIOR
This is where the system quietly loses students and their families!
Families do not always announce that cost is the reason they are stepping back. They just…adjust. They remove schools from the list, they decide not to apply, they choose what feels safer, closer, more manageable. They reduce their options before anyone realizes they were considering them at all.
And they are not doing this irrationally. Cost is consistently cited as a primary reason students do not enroll or complete college (Nguyen et al., 2025), and 85% of non-enrolled adults say cost prevented them from attending (Ward et al., 2025).
But here is the part institutions should sit with: families are not reacting to the actual cost; they are reacting to what they believe the cost will be. And when those beliefs are wrong, the consequences are real. Misperceptions discourage applications, limit exploration, and reduce enrollment decisions (Ward et al., 2025). Cost stress is not something that shows up at the end of the funnel; it shapes who even enters it.
THE REAL PROBLEM ISN’T JUST COST
It would be easier if this were just about price, right? It is not!
99% of families say cost information is essential, and yet many cannot find or understand it (RNL, Ardeo, & CampusESP, 2025). That should not be possible, and yet it is.
At a national level, families lack the basic building blocks needed to make an informed decision. They do not have accurate estimates of cost. They do not understand financial aid eligibility. They do not know what they will actually pay (Ward et al., 2025).
Even when tools exist, they do not solve the problem. Families struggle to interpret them, and confusion is driven by complex aid systems, unclear pricing, and inconsistent communication (Ward et al., 2025).
So we have built a system where:
- information exists
- tools exist
- communication exists
And still, families do not understand. Information exists, sadly (tragically) understanding does not. This is not just an affordability issue; it is a translation failure, and families are paying the price for it.
THE QUESTION FAMILIES ARE ACTUALLY ASKING
Families are not asking if college is worth it; they have already answered that question. They are asking something much harder: Is this a risk we can take?
From where they sit, the system does not feel clear. It feels overwhelming. It feels inconsistent. It feels like a decision where the consequences of getting it wrong will last for years, maybe decades.
Families are not walking away from college because they do not value it. They are walking away because the price they think they will pay feels out of reach (Sallie Mae & Ipsos, 2025). And that is the part we must own.
Because until we close the gap between what college costs and what families believe it costs, until we move from information to understanding, we are not just communicating poorly. We are quietly deciding who gets to see college as a possibility and who decides it is not even worth the risk.
FIVE THINGS INSTITUTIONS MUST DO
- Lead with net cost, not sticker price.
Families are eliminating you before they understand what you actually cost. - Show real numbers for real families.
If you don’t define the price, families will, and they’ll assume the worst. - Start earlier. Much earlier.
By the time students apply, most decisions have already been shaped. - Design for reassurance, not just information.
You’re explaining cost. Families are feeling at risk. - Measure understanding, not output.
You’re communicating. They’re still confused.
If families need help decoding your cost, you didn’t communicate, and you complicated it.
Institutions care that you are communicating and investing time, tools, and effort into helping families understand cost. But effort is not the same as understanding. The next step isn’t to say more, it’s to make sure families can make sense of what they hear.
References:
Nguyen, S., Cheche, O., & Sawyer, O. (2025). Varying degrees 2025: Americans find common ground in higher education. New America.
Ruffalo Noel Levitz, Ardeo Education Solutions, & CampusESP. (2025). 2025 prospective family engagement study: Meeting families where they are.
Sallie Mae, & Ipsos. (2025). How America pays for college 2025.
Ward, J. D., Draeger, J., & Clayton, D. (2025). Cost confusion: Americans’ misperceptions of college costs. Strada Education Foundation.
