The Princeton Review Reports Its 2025 College Hopes & Worries Survey Findings

Now through April is a nerve-racking stretch for the more than 1 million high school seniors and their parents receiving decisions about their college applications. According to a January 16 report from Common App, an organization that has more than 860 colleges among its member institutions, applications are up 7% this year (up 3% to private institutions and 11% to public institutions). Hopes spring eternal.

Stress about college applications is also very high this year, as are worries about paying for college, according to The Princeton Review^® 2025 College Hopes & Worries Survey, the education service company’s 23rd annual survey of college applicants and their parents.

For it’s 2025 survey, conducted between January 17 and February 24, was completed online by 9,317 people. 75% (7,023) were applicants to colleges; 25% (2,294) were parents of applicants. The survey had 20 questions, some of which have been asked annually since the survey debuted in 2003.

“Dream Colleges”

The first question on the survey—”What ‘dream college’ do you wish you (your child) could attend if acceptance and cost weren’t issues?”—invited a fill-in-the-blank answer. Respondents entered in the names of more than 165 institutions as their “dream colleges.” Among them were highly selective schools (including all the Ivies and many other well-known private colleges), flagship state universities, technology schools, nursing schools, and community colleges. Some schools were named by hundreds of respondents as their “dream college.” Some by just one.

Top 10 Schools Most Named by Students As Their “Dream College”

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Harvard College (MA)
Stanford University (CA)
Princeton University (NJ)
Yale University (CT)
Columbia University (NY)
New York University
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
University of California–Los Angeles

Top 10 Schools Most Named by Parents As Their “Dream College” for Their Children

Princeton University (NJ)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Stanford University (CA)
Harvard College (MA)
Yale University (CT)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Columbia University (NY)
Duke University (NC)
New York University
University of Texas–Austin

Findings Based on Survey Questions with Multiple-Choice Answers

Stress about college applications is high

Asked their level of stress about their applications, 73% of respondents chose answers indicating it to be “High” or “Very high” with 44% selecting “High” and 29% selecting “Very high.” In 2003, the first year of the survey, 56% of respondents reported “High” or “Very high” stress.

The need for financial aid is very high

Nearly all the respondents (98%) indicated they were planning to apply for financial aid. Asked how necessary financial aid will be to pay for college, nearly half (48%) chose the answer “Extremely” while 29% chose the answer “Very.” Almost two out of 10 (18%) chose the answer “Somewhat.” Only 5% said aid would be “Minimally” necessary. In responses to a separate survey question that asked their estimates of the cost for their (their child’s) college education, the plurality (38%) selected the answer “More than $150,000.”

Debt is the major worry

Asked their biggest concern about their applications, the plurality (38%) of respondents chose the answer “Level of debt to pay for the degree.” Significantly fewer (29%) chose the answer “Won’t get into first-choice college (although more parents (36%) than students (27%) chose this answer). About a quarter of respondents (26%) chose the answer “Will get into first-choice college but won’t be able to afford to attend” and just 7% chose “Will attend a college I (my child) will not be happy about.” Note: in 2003, only 6% of respondents chose the answer “Level of debt to pay for the degree” while the majority (52%) selected the answer “Won’t get into first-choice college.”

Nine out of 10 respondents said they (their child) had taken or was planning to take the SAT^® and/or the ACT^®

Asked their (their child’s) admission test-taking plans, 92% of respondents said they (their child) had taken or planned to take the SAT and/or the ACT. Asked their main reason for taking the tests (given that most colleges are now test-optional), nearly half (47%) chose the answer “Scores can distinguish my applications and improve their chances of being accepted.” A third (33%) chose the answer “Scores are considered in scholarship and aid decisions,” and 20% chose the answer “Scores may be required by the college I am (my child is) applying to.”

The SAT is more popular than the ACT

Asked which admission test(s) they (or their child) had taken or planned to take, 48% selected the answer “SAT,” while 11% chose the answer “ACT.” However, a third (33%) of respondents chose the answer “Both tests”— 4% higher than the 29% that chose this answer on the 2024 survey.

The SAT, ACT, and AP^® transitions to digital tests are viewed as improvements

Asked their opinion about standardized tests transitioning from paper-and-pencil to digital formats, 72% of respondents chose the answer “I welcome this change and believe digital versions will be improvements” while 28% chose the answer “I would prefer to see these exams remain paper-and-pencil tests.” (The SAT became a digital test in March 2024. The ACT will be offered in both digital and paper-and-pencil formats beginning in April. In May, 28 of the AP subject tests will be administered as digital tests.)

Key benefit of earning a college degree? A better job and higher income

Asked what they consider the major benefit of earning a college degree, nearly half (46%) of respondents chose the answer “Potentially better job and income,” while 29% chose “Exposure to new ideas, places and people,” and 25% chose “The education.”

Key characteristic of the college applicants will choose? “Overall fit”

Asked what best describes the college they are (their child is) likely to choose, nearly half (47%) of respondents selected the answer “College that will be the best overall fit,” while nearly a third (32%) said “College with the best program for my (my child’s) career interests.” Only 11% chose “College that will be most affordable” and only 10% chose “College with the best academic reputation.”

Distance from home of “ideal” college? Parents and students differ

Asked how far from home their (their child’s) “ideal” college would be, while the plurality (39%) of respondents selected the answer “Fewer than 250 miles,” opinions about this differed considerably (and to some extent: touchingly). Among parents, 50% chose “Fewer than 250 miles.” Among students, 35% chose that answer. Since 2007, when this question was added to the survey, the majority of students surveyed have hoped to attend schools further from home, while the majority of parents surveyed have hoped their children will attend schools nearer the family nest.

Is college worth it? Yes, say 99%

Asked simply if they believe college will be “worth it,” 99% of respondents overall chose the answer “Yes.”