Who Should Pay For College?

BOSTON (CBS) - For the last couple of weeks students have been moving back to college. I watched the parade of packed cars coming into Boston, dropping off kids, and I began to think about the dollars that have just been spent for the first semester of this school year.

According to a Fidelity study families are on track to only meet 40% of their college savings goal. 50% of the parents interviewed have not started a dialogue with their kids about the cost of college which is going to be key as to where a kiddo applies to college.

So I thought we would spend the week looking at saving for college. The cost for college is staggering and according to Fidelity is doubling every nine years.

Harvard's tuition for this year is $45,000 ($45,278) and the room and board is over $15,000 ($15,381). The sticker price for four years at Harvard could be close to $300,000.

The average Massachusetts private college education price tag is around $180,000 for four years.

Tuition at UMass for this year is over $14,000. Room & board $11,500. A price tag of about $120,000 for four years.

College expenses have averaged an increase of about 4% a year, which sounds almost reasonable but in the Fidelity study they are predicting 8% a year. But the fees are worse than the airlines. So I am safe in saying college will be more expensive in the future, so that should be part of your planning.

According to the New York Times, last year Americans with four-year college degrees earned 98% more per hour than workers without degrees.

I strongly believe an education is a good investment! But the investment is in the kid so they should be part of the planning and the paying.

When getting a degree kids should consider a marketable degree, something that will get them a job upon graduation.

Kids need to be a part of this process. And they should have a job over the summer to earn money for school. They can easily be responsible for their spending money, clothes, entertainment, books and some of the fees depending on the job they have.

One more thing: According to Harvard's website 90% of American families would pay the same or less to send their children to Harvard as they would a state school. So if you have a bright kiddo fill out that application for Harvard.

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You can hear Dee Lee's expert financial advice on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 each weekday at 1:55 p.m., 3:55 p.m., and 7:55 p.m.

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