In the face of sky-high costs, many parents plan to pay the full freight of their kids' college education

Many parents have ambitious plans to cover the full cost of their children's college education.

A record share of parents in the US — 41% — plan to pay their kids' entire education bill, up from 37% in 2024, according to new research from Fidelity Investments.

"Parents' own experiences with student debt might be influencing their decision-making," Cory Latham, Fidelity's managing director of 529 college savings, told Yahoo Finance.

Even among parents who plan to cover only a portion of the cost, the average amount they plan to cover is 55%, up from 52% two years ago.

The goal is laudable: to ease their kids' future financial load and spare them the trade-offs the parents had to make themselves.

"More than half say having to pay off their loans delayed them from starting to save for retirement," Latham said.

The Fidelity findings come as the cost of a four-year degree keeps getting more daunting.

The average student borrows more than $35,000 to pursue a bachelor's degree, according to a recent analysis by the Education Data Initiative, and it often takes two decades to pay off the debt.

The yearly cost of attendance at more than a dozen colleges is now six figures, after accounting for tuition, fees, room and board, books, transportation, and other incidentals.

Over the past 30 years, the cost of attending a four-year public institution has doubled. In the same period, the median family income in the US increased by just 39%, after adjusting for inflation.

Nonetheless, more than 8 in 10 parents say the value of a college education is worth its cost, per Fidelity's data.

A peak share — 84% of parents — have started saving for their children to go to college, up from 74% in 2024, according to the report. They are socking away roughly $9,000 a year on average.

"While it's noble that parents want to help their children feel more financially comfortable, we don't recommend doing that at the expense of their own financial security," Latham said.

Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including " Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future, " " In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work ," and "Never Too Old to Get Rich." Follow her on Bluesky .