Save now, learn later

By LEIGH WOOSLEY World Scene Writer
12/26/2005

Saving about $5 more a day is all the average middle-class family needs to gather enough to put two kids through four years of college -- if the saving starts now, according to the new study, "Closing the College Savings Gap," from Citigroup, a financial-services company, and Upromise Investments Inc., the nation's largest private source of college funding.

Since college tuition is increasing at more than 2.5 times the rate of inflation, the typical American family's college-savings fund is $28,022 short. But that gap can be filled if families save $4.42 more a day, according to the study: A family with two young kids and a combined income of $60,000 can afford a four-year college education for both children by starting today to save that $4.42 more daily.

The increasing availability of financial aid, which three out of four students receive, helps out.

Now, if this typical family had started saving five years before their first child was born, the savings gap for college would be $12,401 instead of $28,022, a gap they could fill by investing $1.87 more a day. If that same family waits five years, the gap jumps to $42,413.

Moral of this story? Start saving.

Leigh Woosley 581-8465
leigh.woosley@tulsaworld.com