2026
College Affordability and Financial Aid Communication Practices Report
How Colleges and Universities Communicate Cost, Aid, and Value
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What's in This Report
This inaugural College Affordability and Financial Aid Communication Practices Report examines how four-year colleges and universities communicate cost, aid, borrowing, and value across six stages of the enrollment journey. It draws on a national survey of enrollment and financial aid professionals at four-year private and public institutions to provide a detailed view of communication strategies and practices.
The report is designed to help institutions step back and examine how affordability is experienced by students and families, focusing on clarity, coordination, and shared accountability across the enrollment journey. With 45 findings, colleges and universities can compare their financial aid communication strategies to similar institutions and find new ideas for communicating about awarding. In the end, the insights in this report can help reduce confusion with students and families, align teams, and build an affordability experience that guides students from first search to enrollment.
Topics Include:
- How institutions communicate value to students and families
- How cost, aid, and scholarships are explained
- Use of net price calculators and digital cost tools
- What campuses do to prepare students for financial reality
- Practices that help drive yield
Key Findings
How confident are you in your institution’s ability to communicate value clearly to families?
Most institutions report only moderate confidence in their ability to clearly explain net cost and affordability to families.
Early cost estimates before admission remain inconsistent across institutions.
Does your institution send early scholarship ranges or cost estimates before admission?
Which external scholarship resources do you provide to prospective students?
Most institutions provide a variety of external scholarship resources to students.
Here is a very short piece of context regarding the point of what the chart is telling us over there on the left.
| Why are you thinking about going to college? | All Students | First Generation | Continuing Generation |
|---|---|---|---|
| To get a better job or career | 61% | 64% | 59% |
| To make more money | 55% | 53% | 56% |
| To grow as a person | 51% | 48% | 53% |
| To clarify future goals or career direction | 41% | 38% | 42% |
| For the experience | 33% | 36% | 31% |
| Meeting expectations from family or others | 24% | 20% | 26% |
| Because it's the next step after high school | 22% | 25% | 21% |
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College Affordability and Financial Aid Communication Practices Report
How Colleges and Universities Communicate Cost, Aid, and Value