College Fund Empty? Kids Help Pay and Defray School Bills

(MoneyWatch)  The overall findings of Fidelity Investments' annual college savings survey came as little surprise: Parents are less able to fund a significant portion of their children's college bills this year compared to last year thanks to last fall's market crash.

What is a surprise, and a nice one, is that high school seniors are now overwhelmingly willing to help pay for their own schooling, with 90% of high school seniors saying that they expect to pay at least some of their own college bills. Here's how, according to the survey:

• 76% say they'll work while they're in school
• 36% are taking advanced placement classes in order to finish college in less time
• 36% expect to start at a less-expensive school, such as a community college, and transfer to their more expensive target college to complete their degree.
• 73% of students said they were selecting colleges based on costs. (Another portion of the survey indicated that fewer kids--about 8% this year--expect to go to a pricey private school compared with 11% choosing that route last year.)
• 8% said they'd delay college to save more.

A great resource for parents and kids wanting to check college costs while shopping for schools is the College Board's school-by-school analysis of costs and financial aid. To get to it, go to the College Board's web site and use the search tool to look up any school you're interested in. When the school comes up, click on "Cost and Financial Aid."

The result will not only tell you the school's sticker price, it will tell you its total enrollment and the number of students who applied for need-based aid. The tool goes on to say how many of applicants were judged worthy of need-based aid and what percentage of that aid was met.

These are key figures because some pricey private colleges are so generous with aid that they can prove to be less costly than public schools that are tighter with their purse strings. In other words, budget-conscious students and parents shouldn't rule out costly colleges, unless they're stingy with aid.

For example, at University of Southern California tuition and fees amount to a staggering $39,274 annually, according to the College Board. Room and board will add another $11,500 to the annual tab.

However, the College Board analysis said that of the 1,194 students who were judged to have financial need at USC, some 1,166 got 100% of their need met. The university's average aid package amounted to $33,713, which could make USC financially competitive with even the state's least expensive public universities.