Survey Shows Recession Worries Not Limited to Adults

43% of Teens Report High Anxiety Over Nation's Economy,
85% of High Schoolers Cut Back Personal Spending

NEW YORK, NY AND ROCHESTER, NY (April 2, 2009)--- A recent poll of high school students across America indicates that teens are stressing over more than just grades and college acceptance letters. Fifty-nine percent of those polled say their stress or anxiety level about their family's finances is high or very high and 25 percent report that at least one of their parents has been laid off in the past year. The poll was conducted jointly by ApplyWise.com, an online college admissions counseling program and Next Step Magazine, a publication for high school students and their parents.

Parents Are Talking, But Are Teens Listening?

With 70 percent of teens saying their parents have had a serious talk with them about the state of the economy and how it affects their family, it is clear that many parents are trying to communicate with their children about financial matters. Despite the discussions about finances, a shocking 37 percent of the teens polled have no idea how much money their parents have saved toward their college education, 29 percent indicate their parents have saved no money at all and 26 percent have no idea how their families will pay for college.

"There appears to be a serious disconnect between parents and teens when it comes to understanding how the family will pay for the child's college education," said Katherine Cohen, PhD, founder of ApplyWise.com and IvyWise, an internationally recognized college counseling company based in Manhattan. "If 70 percent of families are having a talk about the economy, why aren't they talking about how to pay for college? Getting into college used to be the big stress factor for teens, but there's growing anxiety among kids about the financial issues."

Checkbook Balances Affect College Choices

Thirty-seven percent of students polled by ApplyWise.com and Next Step Magazine say they are expected to pick up a larger portion of the tab for their college education and 45 percent say they will rely more on loans than they had initially expected. Teens also report having to change their top school choices, with nearly 53 percent admitting that they had hoped to attend a private college but are now limiting their choices to a public institution. Also, 39 percent are now shifting away from pricey private schools to less expensive private options.

"Based on our poll, 98 percent of teens think that a college education is a worthwhile investment, but for many, the economic downturn is dimming their hopes," said Laura Hammond, editor-in-chief of Next Step Magazine. "Many teens polled report that in the past year they have canceled plans to go away to school, while others are putting college on hold indefinitely, opting to join the military or find a full-time job."

According to the ApplyWise/Next Step survey, a third of those polled say they will live at home instead of going away to college as they had earlier planned, 27 percent will start their degrees at local community colleges instead of four-year-schools, and 21 percent plan to defer college a year in order to save money toward tuition. Only eight percent say that in the past year they have decided to enroll in the military as a way of paying for school and five percent will put their college plans on hold in favor of a full-time job.

Don't Take My Cell Phone Away from Me!

Eighty five percent of the teens polled say they have cut back personal spending; however, 29 percent say they haven't saved any money toward their college education and 32 percent have saved less than $1,000. Entertainment such as movies and concerts, dining out and personal care items saw the largest spending reductions among students. Teens are loathe to give up their cell phones though, with 24 percent majority saying their phone would be the toughest item for them to sacrifice in order to save money.

The ApplyWise and Next Step survey was conducted online between February 11 and February 23, 2009.

About ApplyWise

ApplyWise (www.applywise.com) is an online college admissions counseling program that includes interactive online counseling modules and organizing tools to give parents and students everything they need to master the college admissions process. The ApplyWise program was developed by Dr. Katherine Cohen and her team of experts at IvyWise, respected leaders in admissions counseling. ApplyWise is available directly online to consumers and is also used by high school guidance counselors, certified college planners and independent counselors to supplement their own efforts.

About Next Step Magazine

Next Step Magazine (www.nextSTEPmag.com), a college, career and life planning magazine and Web site for high school students, is distributed in 20,500 high schools nationwide. Next Step Magazine is Headquartered in Rochester, N.Y. Next Step Magazine published its first issue in May 1995.