by Anna Belinda Brillon

Created on: July 28, 2009

The realities of college tuition are harsh, which is why parents are encouraged to be prepared

The costs of many things seem to go up as the years go buy. This trend is apparent in food, fuel, and other basic commodities that families in America need. Furthermore, this is more than obvious when it comes to the cost of sending a child to college. Do you think you can send your son and daughter to college? Are you even considering this feat while the kids are still in primary or middle school? How much will it cost you to have your child study in a good college or university when the time comes?

You might be shocked to find out that from 1982 to the year 2007, tuition fees of higher education institutions in the US have increased by more than 430%. This was taken from the biennial report of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in 2008, and as published by a report from the New York Times. From this research, it was found that on the average, sending a child to a public college will cost about $3,000 per year. If a student would enroll in a private university, costs would reach up to $33,000 per year. Summing it up, you can imagine that college tuition fees for one child alone take a chunk out of the annual income of the average American household.

What are parents thinking about these days when college is the topic for discussion? How do they view saving up for it? FutureTrust Hopes and Dreams conducted a survey among American families in 2008, and the results were summarized in an article by Reuters. Do you belong to the three quarters of the population who believe that the current economic crises is causing them to postpone saving up for the kids' college? About 88% of parents say that the low probability of having most students complete college can be blamed on the economy and the current tuition rates. Not only that, but interestingly enough, about 20% of the surveyed parents have not really thought about setting aside money for the children's college fund.

Though CNN Money claims that in most scenarios, saving up for retirement is more sensible than saving up for the kids' college, it wouldn't hurt for parents to be considering the latter while the kids are young. Regardless of what the economic situation is today, you can never really expect tuition fees for colleges and universities to go down. Preparing early can help save you thousands of dollars worth of college tuition fees, not to mention prevent tons of headaches in the long run. If you can set aside $100 per month starting when your child is a year old, you would have saved $48,000 by the time he turns eighteen years old.

Furthermore, you can explore stock options or investments in bonds or mutual funds as a way of making money grow over a period of time. If your son or daughter has already graduated from high school, you can also explore government grants and student loans as a means of easing up on most college expenses. These include dorm fees, school supplies, books, transportation costs, and others.

Learn more about this author, Anna Belinda Brillon.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.