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Looking around Grand View University and the world today, millennials, the college age generation are generally thought of as a more independent group of people in most areas of life. College is supposed to be a time to learn about yourself and become an individual with your own opinions and ideas. Some students may be striving to complete tasks and navigate paths of life on their own for the first time.

The big question is, do we need our parents’ help during college to accomplish these goals and maybe even attend college? There are many differences between the generation of college students now and their parents then, but perhaps the biggest difference may be the dependence on parents each generation’s years of independence and freedom.

Looking from a parent’s perspective, Grand View Welcome Center administrative assistant, Connie Howat, shared her opinion on how she views our generation compared to hers.

“Well, I feel like we, and I’m talking about parents, tend to try and make it as easy as possible for our kids. But this is a really hard thing right now because sometimes I think we make it too easy, and then they are always going to depend on you,” Howat said. “And then you hit a day when you’re like, ‘okay now it’s time to get out on your own.’”

She feels parents are providing as much as they can to their children’s education in whatever way that may be. Ultimately, she concluded students now are more dependent on their parents than her generation was.

One reason for the change in dependency could be that college tuition has increased significantly in the last 30 years.

According to CollegeCalc.org, in 1987, the cost for tuition at Grand View University was $4,540 compared to the 2017-18 school year tuition price of $25,836.

Grand View students have very different perspectives on whether they need their parents to attend college and how much they rely on them on an everyday basis.

Katelynn King explained that she is a student living at home this year and depends on her parents quite a bit. Since King lives at home, her parents pay for her groceries as well as for her college.

However, other students have had different college experiences so far.

“In college, I don’t depend on my parents at all, I just do a lot of things on my own, getting jobs,” John Ross said.

College students all have varying experiences when it comes to their college years, how they pay for college and what sort of relationships they have with their parents. However, according to a Gallup poll done in 2014, about half of college students aging from 18-23 are still living with their parents.

Coralie Turner, assistant professor of modern language at Grand View said she would have never considered living at home in college. However, that is an option that many students consider in the current generation.

A lot has changed in our world’s society since 30 years ago when our parents were in college, including the dependence college students have on their parents today. Although some students are paying their way and determining each step in their lives, many students in this generation are still heavily dependent on their parents during their college time of growth and learning to become individual adults