PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- This being an election year, it's
not surprising that parents'(1) decisions come November will be based on if
and how the new government plans to provide assistance in paying for
college. While the current economic outlook is becoming grimmer by the day
and the daily cost of living is on the rise, the Futuretrust(R) Hopes and
Dreams 2008 survey, conducted by Harris Interactive(R), shows that another
common concern has more to do with America's future than America's here and
now. In fact, American families are concerned about the rising costs of
college education, and the majority of parents are in favor of greater help
from the government and would be more likely to vote for a candidate that
would be in favor of such assistance.
-- Politicians take heed -- although universal health care is a 'buzz
phrase' this election year, when asked if the government offered them a
choice between universal health care and free higher education, 56% of
parents would choose free higher education for their child (vs. 44% who
would opt for universal health care). For parents with children approaching
college age, between 13 and 17, that majority gets even bigger at 66%.
-- Overall, 91% of parents said that the government should offer
financial help to parents of college-bound children:
-- 39% of parents said that the government should provide free college
tuition for all American citizens.
-- 61% said that the government should provide interest-free education
loans to parents/guardians and/or children.
-- 88%, a majority, think the government should provide bigger tax
incentives for college savings.
-- The same proportion of parents -- 88% -- believes that the cost of
college is putting higher education out of reach for many Americans.
-- 74% said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who
wanted to provide greater government funding for college tuition.
-- When asked which political party they believed was best prepared to
deal with college funding issues effectively, parents were almost evenly
split between the two major parties: 28% chose the Democratic party, while
25% chose the Republican party.
-- Interestingly, 47% did not think either of the two major parties was
best prepared to deal with the issue.
"Everyone is well aware that Americans in general were concerned about
the cost of higher education, but even we were a little surprised by the
fact that, across the board, the clear majority of Americans would like our
government to offer more assistance in dealing with this issue," said
Rebecca Matthias, President and Founder of Futuretrust, a college savings
program. "We think that the issue will be a high priority in campaign
promises."
About Futuretrust(R)
Futuretrust(R) is a MasterCard(R)-linked college savings program that
enables families and friends to save for college through their everyday
spending. Every time a purchase is made with the Futuretrust MasterCard, a
minimum of 1% is automatically contributed to any tax-advantaged 529
college savings plan of the member's choice. Members also earn up to 10% in
additional college savings when they use the Futuretrust MasterCard at
thousands of partners in the Futuretrust Preferred Merchant Network
consisting of major retail chains, catalogs, restaurants, and on-line
merchants. Members can also earn college savings rebates when they buy,
sell, finance, or refinance a home. Futuretrust is a no cost program.
Membership is available online at http://www.futuretrust.com, by calling
1.888.trust68 or in store at any Motherhood(R) Maternity, Mimi
Maternity(R), A Pea in the Pod(R) and Destination Maternity(R) location.
Futuretrust is a Mothers Work, Inc. brand.
About Harris Interactive(R)
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a
long and rich history in multimodal research that is powered by our science
and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris
Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European
and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For
more information, please visit http://www.harrisinteractive.com.
About the Survey
The Futuretrust "Hopes & Dreams" 2008 survey was conducted online by
Harris Interactive between June 12, 2008 and June 16, 2008 among 2,134 U.S.
adults ages 18+, of whom 644 are parents/legal guardians or expectant
parents of a child or children who are likely to attend college in the
future. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and
therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. To
learn more, log onto http://www.futuretrust.com.
(1) For the purposes of this survey, "parents" are defined as U.S.
adults ages 18+ who are parents/legal guardians or expectant parents of a
child or 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.html.
SOURCE Futuretrust
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Related links:
http://www.futuretrust.com
http://www.harrisinteractive.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/581877.html /
CONTACT:
Judie Ashworth of Futuretrust,
+1-215-873-2283, jashworth@motherswork.com; or Linda Falcone,
linda@blueskypr.com, or Erin Doyle, erin@blueskypr.com, both of
blue sky communications for Futuretrust, +1-212-995-1777
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