For years, families have agonized over the rising cost of a degree, yet many have felt they had no choice but to take out whatever loans were necessary to send their children to college. That financial desperation has led to historic debt levels among parents.
The federal Parent Plus loan program has allowed parents to borrow up to the full cost of attendance, including tuition, housing and food. As of the first quarter of the federal fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31, 2025, the total outstanding balance for Parent Plus loans was $114.9 billion, according to data from the Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid portfolio.
The growth of Parent Plus loans over the past 10 years reveals a sobering trend for American families: the total balance has surged by $43.8 billion. Interestingly enough, the number of parents borrowing has not jumped at the same rate. In 2016, there were 3.4 million recipients for this type of loan. Today, there are 3.6 million. This means that while the number of families using Parent Plus loans grew by only about 6 percent, the total amount they borrowed grew by more than 61 percent.
This data highlights that parents have been borrowing significantly larger sums to cover the rising cost of college.
The sticker price for elite schools is mind-blowing. For instance, George Washington University announced last month that for the 2026-2027 academic year, tuition for undergraduate students will rise to $72,000.For incoming freshmen, the base rate for housing and dining will be over $18,000.
Think about that. Just one year of college at this elite school costs nearly $100,000.
Now, many families don’t pay the listed tuition price. The cost of attendance is often offset by financial aid, including scholarships, grants and work study. But when there is a shortfall, it’s covered by loans taken out by students, their parents or even grandparents.
A 2025 survey by Sallie Mae found that parents cover nearly half of college costs using a combination of income, savings and borrowing.
With new federal caps on Parent Plus loans, which limit borrowing to $20,000 per year or $65,000 total, this year’s May 1 decision day will be different. There’s now a hard ceiling on federal funds for parents who want to rely on federal funds rather than more expensive private education loans. Additionally, the One Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law last summer, eliminates certain income-driven repayment options for new Parent Plus loans, effectively requiring higher monthly payments.
My question is, if the era of extraordinary federal borrowing for parents is ending, will parents shift more of the college cost burden onto their children?
Should parents shoulder the primary cost of college?
I think so.
My husband and I firmly believed we had the financial obligation to pay for our three children’s education. Here’s the main reason: How would they be able to save enough as children to pay for it themselves?
And for those who argue that your child will have “some skin in the game” if they pay, that’s not the measure of whether they will appreciate the education. Think of it as your scholarship to your kid, the same as if they had won money from an organization. You can set requirements for your continued support, as many scholarships do.
Over the years, we managed our children’s expectations for the college experience they could have based on what we could afford. We prepared our children for several alternatives if we weren’t able to save enough to avoid taking out loans. Here’s what we told them and how we handled the college decision process.
The veto power
The decision of where they could go was not theirs alone, especially since we had the money they needed to pay for college. This should also hold true for families who have no choice but to take out loans.
Why would you leave such a large financial decision entirely in the hands of a teenager?
My husband and I told our children they could apply to any school, but we weren’t taking on debt. We had saved enough for them to get through local colleges without loans. They all decided that they didn’t want to graduate with debt, and they didn’t.
If the math doesn’t work, or if the required debt exceeds the new federal caps, or will force you to take out expensive private loans, be prepared to say “no” to an unaffordable college choice. Use your veto power.
Loving your child means protecting them from excessive borrowing and perhaps jeopardizing your retirement with a debt load that you cannot carry.
The two-year advantage
Starting at a community college was always an option for our children. We didn’t bad-mouth that choice.
Consider the savings: The average full-time student attending a community college in their own community pays $3,890 in annual tuition and fees, according to data from the Education Data Initiative.
Your child can knock out core requirements — basic English, math and science courses — at a fraction of the cost while living at home, saving on room and board. Once they finish their degree at community college, they can transfer to a four-year university. When they receive their diploma, it won’t have an asterisk on it. It will look exactly like the ones held by students who spent four years paying substantially more for their education.
Community college isn’t a backup plan. It’s always been a smart money move.
The AP fast track
We encouraged all our children at the beginning of high school to take Advanced Placement classes, and they did so, which enabled them to earn credit for certain college-level courses. Our youngest also participated in a community college program that resulted in college credits.
Have your child look into the nonprofit Modern States Education Alliance (ModernStates.org), which offers free, self-paced courses, taught by college professors, that prepare students to earn college credit through the College Board’s College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams, which are accepted at nearly 3,000 colleges and universities.
Scoring well on these exams can knock off an entire semester or more of credits, potentially saving tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, room and board by allowing for early graduation.
The brand-name trap
A prestigious public or private institution with a hefty price tag does not guarantee greater employment opportunities or crucial job connections.
Yes, there are certain companies or hiring managers who exclusively recruit from elite colleges. However, that alone is not a good reason to take on unmanageable student loans.
Look around your own workplace. You’ll likely find colleagues who graduated from a wide variety of institutions, including community colleges, state schools and Ivy League institutions. Yet you are all working in the same place.
The scholarship myth
Don’t assume your child won’t get any free money.
The Sallie Mae report found that even though scholarships are a major way to reduce college costs, 40 percent of families didn’t use them during the 2024-2025 academic year, and among those who didn’t, 70 percent didn’t even bother to apply for aid.
Many families wrongly assumed that scholarships only go to students with exceptional grades or that their household income would disqualify them. They also wrongly assumed their child could only apply as an incoming freshman.
Skipping the scholarship search based on these misconceptions means you’ll likely end up filling that gap with debt.
The post Who should pay for college: the parent or the child? appeared first on Washington Post.
