Trying to save money for college?

Here's how others are doing it, from a survey by Sallie Mae, a company that helps people finance tuition.

• 60% of parents have saved for their child’s college education, about the same as last year despite the difficult economic environment, and are on track to save $48,367 on average by the time their child turns 18. 
• Nearly half of those not saving for college do not know how (18%) or are not sure which are the best college savings options (28%). 24% of saving-for-college parents risk their financial future by using retirement accounts to save for college and make other costly mistakes by not investing in tax-advantaged options, such as 529 college savings plans. 
• Across all parents saving for college, the average amount saved for college in retirement accounts is $6,503, compared to $3,340 in 529 college savings plans. 

Eearlier this year Gallup released the results of a similar survey.

• The combined spending from all sources reported by families for 2009-10 came to an average of $24,097, a 24-percent increase from the year before.
• To meet the increased cost, families reported using larger amounts of grants and scholarships, parent income and savings, parent borrowing, student income and savings, student borrowing, and contributions from family and friends.
• Thirty-seven percent of costs were met with parents' current income and savings, 10 percent by parent borrowing, 23 percent by grants and scholarships, 14 percent by student borrowing, 9 percent by student income and savings, and 7 percent by money from friends and relatives.
• Student borrowing increased 25 percent, from $2,721 to $3,396, while parent borrowing grew 27 percent, from $1,775 to $2,261. Over all, the survey found that slightly more than half of families pay for college without borrowing.

Here's a picture from The New York Times.