PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 11 /EMWNews/ -- For the average American family,

today's financial environment is offering an extremely bleak outlook in

terms of saving for college:



    Nearly half of the nation's parents are unable to save for college!



    This eye-opening fact is just one of the loud and clear messages sent

by American families who participated in the 2nd annual Futuretrust(R)

"Hopes & Dreams" survey, conducted by Harris Interactive(R). As a company

that has long fostered a meaningful dialogue with young families,

Futuretrust is dedicated to providing a voice for those who are nurturing

the aspirations of the next generation. The company's nationwide "Hopes and

Dreams" 2008 survey, first conducted in 2007, uncovers one of today's most

important topics -- how the average American family believes they will pay

for their child's college education. In addition, the Futuretrust "Hopes

and Dreams" 2008 survey explores Americans' thoughts on if and how the

government should be involved, while also focusing on the current economic

crunch and how it has impacted daily life.



    According to Futuretrust Founder and President, Rebecca Matthias, "The

Hopes and Dreams survey results are a wake-up call for Americans who are

planning to send their children to college." College costs are ever-rising

-- today, the average college student graduates with $21,000(1) in debt,

and the average college tuition sticker price is projected to be an

astronomical $294,496(2) for those born in the year 2007. There is no doubt

that such a burden affects the life choices of America's parents. The

Futuretrust Hopes & Dreams 2008 survey set out to find exactly what choices

those parents are making.



    Those intimidating numbers in today's unsteady fiscal reality leave no

reason to wonder why parents are so worried. "Various financial stresses

are making it even more difficult for families who want to save. In fact,

50% of parents(3) say the rising cost of food, gas and other daily

necessities is the greatest obstacle to saving.(4) Yet, if families use a

Futuretrust MasterCard(R) to pay for the expenses already figured into a

household's budget, savings can mount painlessly," says Matthias. While

parents may feel overwhelmed and incapable of making a dent, the one

element they have on their side is time. "It's never too early to start

saving. The parents who open a 529 even when they are still expecting are

getting an even greater head start in saving for this life-changing benefit

for their children."



    America's families, and America's children, deserve the brightest of

futures. Futuretrust can help.

    About Futuretrust(R)



    Futuretrust(R) is a MasterCard(R)-linked college savings program that

enables families and friends to save for college through their everyday

spending. Every time a purchase is made with the Futuretrust MasterCard, a

minimum of 1% is automatically contributed to any tax-advantaged 529

college savings plan of the member's choice. Members also earn up to 10% in

additional college savings when they use the Futuretrust MasterCard at

thousands of partners in the Futuretrust Preferred Merchant Network

consisting of major retail chains, catalogs, restaurants, and on-line

merchants. Members can also earn college savings rebates when they buy,

sell, finance, or refinance a home. Futuretrust is a no cost program.

Membership is available online at http://www.futuretrust.com, by calling

1.888.trust68, or in-store at any Motherhood(R) Maternity, Mimi

Maternity(R), A Pea in the Pod(R) and Destination Maternity(R) location.

Futuretrust is a Mothers Work, Inc. brand.



    About Harris Interactive(R)



    Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a

long and rich history in multimodal research that is powered by our science

and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris

Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European

and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For

more information, please visit http://www.harrisinteractive.com.








    (1) ***Source: The Project on Student Debt (MSN article)



    (2) ***Source: SavingForCollege.com

    (3) For the purposes of this survey, "parents" are defined as U.S.

adults ages 18+ who are parents/legal guardians or expectant parents of a

child or children who are likely to attend college in the future.



    (4) *Source: The Futuretrust "Hopes & Dreams" 2008 survey was conducted

online by Harris Interactive between June 12, 2008 and June 16, 2008 among

2,134 U.S. adults ages 18+, of whom, 644 are parents/legal guardians or

expectant parents of a child or children who are likely to attend college

in the future. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and

therefore no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. To

learn more, log onto http://www.futuretrust.com.



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