More high school students plan to work and save their money to help pay for college and avoid too much debt, according to a new survey.

Seventy-four percent of high school sophomores, juniors and seniors plan to save money for college and 53 percent of them have jobs, up 7 percentage points from last year, according to The College Savings Foundation’s fourth annual ‘How Youth Plan to Fund College’ survey.

Forty-nine percent (up from 45 percent  last year) of the students surveyed have already started saving and 77 percent (up from 72 percent) of those have saved $1,000. Close to 60 percent say they are willing to give up buying a car or personal electronics items in order to save for college.

The average cost in 2012-2013 for an in-state student at a four-year public college was $17,860; for a four-year private college, the average cost was $39,518, according to the College Board,

Only 17 percent of students surveyed plan to attend a private college, down from 21 percent last year; 47 percent plan to attend a public college, up from 45 percent last year.

Over 78 percent of students said that college costs were definitely or possibly affecting further education plans and 64 percent said that costs are a factor in deciding to attend college part vs. full time.

To help cover the cost, 93 percent of high school students say they will or may work while in college. Twenty-nine percent are looking into online courses to reduce expenses. Help from grandparents or other relatives is expected by 45 percent of students. 

Use of 529 plans has increased. Of the 68 percent of parents who are saving for college, 36 percent are in 529 plans. This is up from 31 percent last year.

Student loans will be used by 66 percent of those surveyed, compared to 63 percent last year. Almost 80 percent of students said they would feel better about college debt if they had some savings.

Over 500 high school sophomores, juniors and seniors participated in the online survey.