PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- This being an election year, it's not surprising that parents'(1) decisions come November will be based on if and how the new government plans to provide assistance in paying for college. While the current economic outlook is becoming grimmer by the day and

the daily cost of living is on the rise, the Futuretrust(R) Hopes and Dreams 2008 survey, conducted by Harris Interactive(R), shows that another common concern has more to do with America's future than America's here and now. In fact, American families are concerned about the rising costs of college education, and the majority of parents are in favor of greater help from the government and would be more likely to vote for a candidate that would be in favor of such assistance.

-- Politicians take heed -- although universal health care is a 'buzz phrase' this election year, when asked if the government offered them a choice between universal health care and free higher education, 56% of parents would choose free higher education for their child (vs. 44% who would opt for universal health care). For parents with children approaching college age, between 13 and 17, that majority gets even bigger at 66%.

-- Overall, 91% of parents said that the government should offer financial help to parents of college-bound children:

-- 39% of parents said that the government should provide free college tuition for all American citizens.

-- 61% said that the government should provide interest-free education loans to parents/guardians and/or children.

-- 88%, a majority, think the government should provide bigger tax incentives for college savings.

-- The same proportion of parents -- 88% -- believes that the cost of college is putting higher education out of reach for many Americans.

-- 74% said they would be more likely to vote for a candidate who wanted to provide greater government funding for college tuition.

-- When asked which political party they believed was best prepared to deal with college funding issues effectively, parents were almost evenly split between the two major parties: 28% chose the Democratic party, while 25% chose the Republican party.

-- Interestingly, 47% did not think either of the two major parties was best prepared to deal with the issue.

"Everyone is well aware that Americans in general were concerned about the cost of higher education, but even we were a little surprised by the fact that, across the board, the clear majority of Americans would like our government to offer more assistance in dealing with this issue," said Rebecca Matthias, President and Founder of Futuretrust, a college savings program. "We think that the issue will be a high priority in campaign promises."

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/.

About the Survey

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/.

(1) 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.

Mothers Work press releases available through Company News On-Call at http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/581877.html.

CONTACT: Judie Ashworth of Futuretrust, +1-215-873-2283, jashworth@motherswork.com; or Linda Falcone, linda@blueskypr.com, or Erin Doyle, erin@blueskypr.com, both of blue sky communications for Futuretrust, +1-212-995-1777

Web site: http://www.futuretrust.com/ http://www.harrisinteractive.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/581877.html