As if student loans aren’t taking enough of a toll on the younger generation — those actually heading for the halls of higher learning — their parents might also be in hock up to their eyeballs before the kids collect those very expensive sheepskins.

That’s because 60 percent of U.S. parents say they’re willing to go into debt to pay for their kids’ college education — and that’s with 58 percent of parents saying that doing so makes it tougher to keep up with all their other financial obligations.

The Foundations for the Future report, latest in its Value of Education series from HSBC Group, found that most parents would compromise their own financial well-being in order to finance their children’s higher education.

It’s already common knowledge that student loan debt is endangering the retirement of millennials, who are paying off those loans at the expense of their own retirement savings. Workers laboring under heavy loans, often at smaller-than-hoped-for salaries, are finding it tough to meet all their obligations, and are postponing such major life events as buying a home and getting married.

Yet parents are actually considering taking on that debt to help their kids — although younger parents (under age 34) are more willing, at 74 percent, than older ones (over age 35), at 56 percent.

Nearly all U.S. parents — 98 percent — are considering a college education for their child. But where they’ll find the money to do it is the challenge, particularly since 58 percent of parents say that paying for their child’s education makes it harder to keep up with other financial commitments. Still, they consider this expense more important than long-term savings (40 percent), credit card repayment (37 percent), and retirement savings (37 percent).

And good luck to them; they’ll need it, since U.S. parents surveyed spend an average of $14,678 a year to fund a child’s college education — almost double that of the world average of $7,631.

Instant Insights /

60 percent of parents say they'll go into debt for kids' college

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