My colleague Trip Gabriel has an article on Monday about parents who linger around after they drop their children off at college. This chart below might explain why parents are so involved:

“How America Pays for College,” Sallie Mae and Gallup

The pie chart, taken from a recent report by Sallie Mae and Gallup, shows that on average parents pay, from their income and savings, for 37 percent of the total cost of attending college. Another 10 percent of college costs are financed by parents’ borrowing. These two combined parental sources of spending for college costs also grew as a percentage of the total pie from the year before, from 45 percent in 2009 to 47 percent in 2010.

No wonder parents might feel compelled to stick around a few days and make sure they’re getting their money’s worth.

The breakdown in college financing varies by family, of course. Here’s a look at how the average family from a given income bracket pay for college costs:

“How America Pays for College,” Sallie Mae and Gallup

Students from the richest families have well over half of the costs of going to college paid for by their parents. Students from families earning less than $35,000 annually, on the other hand, are relatively more reliant on grants, scholarships and their own borrowing.