Parents of high-school-age children are forgoing retirement savings, vacations, new cars and home repairs to pay for college, revealed a study released by Kaplan Test Prep and Money magazine Wednesday.
Three out of every five parents surveyed said they are putting less money away for retirement to meet college costs.
Nearly an equal number said they were delaying or forgoing major purchases such as new cars and home repairs to help their kids get ahead.
A sizable number of parents said paying for college also means cutting back on family times together. About a quarter said mom or dad would work a second job to help with the college bills.
One way the survey sponsors said parents can lower the college financial burden without lowering their standard of living now or lowering it in retirement, is to nudge their children to get better grades.
“There’s a lot of scholarship money available for those who put in the effort to earn it,” said Kaplan College Admissions Vice President Lee Weiss.
For the survey, 539 parents of prospective college-bound youths age 15 to 19 were polled in October.