OFI polls explores women's role in college planning

Women are highly committed to getting their kids to college and drive most households' college preparation - but many are taking a back seat when it comes to college savings, according to the results of a nationwide survey of parents of pre-college age children released today by OppenheimerFunds, Inc. (OFI).

According to the OppenheimerFunds poll, women take primary responsibility for many key steps in the long-term educational process, to a much greater degree than men from volunteering in school (95% of women vs. 39% of men), meeting with their child's teachers (88% vs. 43%), and helping their child with homework (83% vs. 55%), to discussing college with their child (83% vs. 64%), helping their child research a college (89% vs. 62%), and helping with the college application process (87% vs. 62%).

However, women are less likely than men to know how much their household has saved for college (56% vs. 65%) and also less likely to have a goal for college savings (40% vs. 46%). Among those with a savings goal, women are also less likely to have factored the cost of extra college expenses - a variable that can readily upset a careful college financial strategy - into their goal (67% vs. 75%).
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