Parents still saving for college despite pandemic: Fidelity

Despite the pandemic, a record high 78% of parents have already put money away for college, according to an annual study of college savings trends by Fidelity Investments.

That figure is substantially higher than the 58% who had started saving when the study first began in 2007, Fidelity said, but noted that parents are still falling short on funding their college savings goals.

“Parents hope to pay for 65% of their children’s college education, but they are only on track to cover 33% of that goal, up from 28% in 2018,” Fidelity said in a release.

The study found that 71% of parents are concerned about COVID-19’s impact on their ability to save for college and 32% are not even sure what college will cost by the time their children enroll. Nevertheless, only 9% of parents plan to decrease contributions to their children’s college savings this year.

The survey found that if distance learning becomes more common down the road, 36% of parents say they will have their child attend a less expensive college since they would not want to pay full tuition for virtual classes. Still, 77% of parents agree college is worth its cost, and 81% believe their children feel the same way.