Half of Parents Say College Savings More Important Than Retirement

In fact, many would rather take on the debt themselves than have their children do so. Fifty-two percent said that they would be willing to take on $25,000 or more in debt to pay for their kids' education, 23% said they would take on over $75,000, and 9% said they would borrow whatever it takes.

Sixty-three percent said they felt guilty about not being able to cover more of their children's college costs, and 58% agreed with the dismal statement, "I sometimes feel like a failure because I am not providing enough for my family and our future."

Despite the potentially negative consequences of using retirement accounts as savings accounts, 30% of respondents admitted to using their 401(k)s to save for their kids' college expenses. Twenty-nine percent were not familiar with 529 accounts, with 15% mistakenly believing that the accounts would be a bar to receiving financial aid, while 20% were not familiar with Roth IRAs.

Concerns over college debt and its impact disproportionately affected millennials and their parents in comparison to previous generations. The study further reported that:

• Sixty-eight percent of millennials report being overwhelmed by financial pressures as opposed to 58% of Generation Xers.

• Seventy percent of millennials who took out loans for school think they took out too much, as opposed to 55% of Generation Xers.

• Eighteen percent of millennials whose parents helped to pay for college said that their parents had taken money out of a retirement account to cover the costs, whereas only 9% of Generation Xers in the same situation said their parents did the same. 

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