“If I Pay, I Have a Say!” Parental Payment of College Education and its Association With Helicopter Parenting

Guided by developmental and sociological frameworks, the present study investigated two interrelated research questions, namely, (a) is helicopter parenting (HP) a unidimensional or multidimensional construct and (b) is parental payment of college education associated with freshmen’s reports of HP? Participants (58% female) included 190 first-semester freshmen (70% Caucasian) who completed a survey with items on parenting (proportion of parental payment for college education, HP behaviors). Results indicated HP was a singular form of overinvolvement and that most freshmen reported low levels of HP. As hypothesized, parental payment of college education was positively associated with HP, and this association was strongest among freshmen without a scholarship. Challenges to the popularized perception that most parents of college students are overinvolved, and implications regarding educational expenses linking parents and emerging adults in the college context are discussed.