Parents of Illinois eighth graders were surveyed to determine their knowledge about college admission requirements, costs, their plans to meet those costs, and their knowledge of financial aid in planning for their child's education beyond high school. Parents surveyed were from 30 schools that represented the following settings: Chicago suburban, large cities downstate (Springfield), independent cities downstate, rural towns, private schools in the Springfield Diocese, and Chicago inner-city. A total of 3,474 surveys were distributed, and the response rate was 38%. Private schools had the highest response rate (56%), and Chicago schools had the lowest (23%). Findings indicated a serious lack of college planning information. Even though 64% of the surveyed parents who were planning to send their child to college expected parent savings to help pay college costs, 56% stated they had no idea how much it was going to cost. Further, of the parents surveyed, 57% had not heard of the new Illinois Board of Higher Education's admissions requirements scheduled to go into effect the fall of 1990 when their eighth graders would be ready to enter college. Findings for the 22 survey questions are presented, and the questionnaire is appended. (SW)