The 2007 Hopes & Dreams Survey Results Summary
September 13 2007 - 9:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- In its first annual
nationwide "Hopes & Dreams" survey conducted by Harris
Interactive(R), Futuretrust commissioned the survey to learn about
parents'(1) financial concerns and goals for the future. As a 529
college savings affiliated program, Futuretrust was especially
interested in uncovering beliefs about planning and saving for
college. Futuretrust helps parents save for the overwhelming
expense of tuition and educates parents about the importance of
starting early. According to Rebecca Matthias, President and
Founder of Futuretrust, "Our survey illustrates that, while sending
their children to college is very important to parents, there are
many misconceptions out there that can discourage parents from
preparing financially." The survey results suggest that many
parents lack a basic knowledge of both the sobering reality of
college costs as well as the many opportunities that exist for
help. Not having the best information has led many families to
conclude that saving for college is out of reach, or that the best
alternative is to rely on student loans -- a common miscalculation
that could leave the next generation struggling with a heavy burden
of debt. Consider these key learning's from the survey: -- 91% of
parents say that paying for their child's college education is at
least somewhat important to them. -- Only 9% of parents say they
have actually saved as much for college as they had planned. --
Only 13% of parents say that they are absolutely certain they will
save enough for their child's college education in the next ten
years. -- 70% of parents say that if they won $1 million in the
lottery, saving for college would be one of the top three ways they
would spend their winnings. -- 48% of all parents do not know what
a 529 college savings plan is. -- 63% of parents expect their
children's tuition to be at least partly funded by scholarships and
grants. -- 50% expect loans to help them pay for their child's
college education. -- 9% of parents do not expect to pay for their
child's college education. -- 90% of parents say they did not or
would not ask their child's grandparents to help pay for college,
yet most grandparents say they would be happy to contribute,
according to a 1999 Fidelity Investments survey. The "Hopes &
Dreams" survey was conducted online for Futuretrust by Harris
Interactive between July 20 and 24, 2007 among 2,757 U.S. adults,
of whom 989 are parents or expectant parents of children likely to
attend college. Sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points. To learn
more, log onto http://www.futuretrust.com/ (1) For the purposes of
this study "parents" have been defined as adults ages 18+ who are
parents or expectant parents of children who are likely to attend
college in the future. Mothers Work press releases available
through Company News On-Call at
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/581877.htm DATASOURCE: Futuretrust
CONTACT: Judie Ashworth of Futuretrust, +1-215-873-2283, ; Linda
Falcone, or Erin Doyle, , both of blue sky communications for
Futuretrust, +1-212-995-1777 Web site: http://www.futuretrust.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/581877.html
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