A recent survey of 1,000 high school students — conducted by Iowa-based educational consultant Modern Campus — found that many began their college planning before high school (41 percent). The majority of respondents started college planning by at least ninth grade (61 percent).

And who influenced student thinking? Parents were heavy influencers of students’ enrollment decisions, with 68 percent of respondents saying that their parents influenced their decision, far ahead of friends (27 percent), guidance counselors (26 percent), admissions staff (22 percent) and teachers (20 percent).