New Study Delivers Hopeful Message to Parents: Families Can Afford College Tuition by Saving a Few More Dollars a Day

NEW YORK, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- With the cost of a college education expected to triple by 2020, many parents are anxious that they won't be able to afford to send their children to college. But a new study released today by Citi and Upromise offers hopeful news: most American families can actually bridge the average college savings gap of $28,022 with daily savings of just a few more dollars per day.

According to the Citi/Upromise study, a typical American family with two young children (ages 2 and 5) -- defined as parents who are both 32 years old, with a combined income of $60,000 -- can send those children to a four-year public university (starting in 2018), while still meeting their retirement needs, by saving another $4.42 per day, beginning today. This Dollar figure is modest thanks to more student aid being available than ever before: three out of four students receive financial aid and total aid has doubled over the past 10 years.

"The message of our research is a powerful one: saving early can have as big an impact on a family's ability to pay for college as the family's income," says Rob Rosenblatt, executive vice president, Citi Cards. "And Citi is committed to help families plan and save, with products that make that easy. The Citi Upromise Card converts a percent of everyday purchases into college savings, and helps parents reach their college savings goals."

The Upromise program and the no-annual-fee Citi Upromise MasterCard can help families get started towards this $4.42 amount per day quickly and easily. Here's how: first parents sign up for the free Upromise rebate program, where a portion of eligible spending on more than 7,000 participating items at grocery and drug stores in the Upromise network, at more than 7,000 restaurants and on gas at Mobil and Exxon locations is automatically saved in a Upromise account. Upromise members can further accelerate their college savings with a Citi Upromise Card because they earn college contributions on purchases everywhere -- both inside and outside the Upromise network -- made on the card.

Couples can start using Upromise even as they are expecting a child -- and thereby shrink their daily savings requirement further. To demonstrate the power of early savings, the Citi/Upromise research shows that:

* If the typical American family with the college savings gap(i) of $28,022 had started saving five years earlier when their first child was born, they would have faced a much smaller college savings gap of only $12,401. To fill this gap, they would have had to invest just $1.87 per day. * Conversely, if this family waits an additional five years to start saving (when their children are ages 7 and 10), assuming similar incomes, their college savings gap goes up to $42,413, or $7.10 in additional daily savings.

Relatives and family friends can also open a Upromise account, and direct the college savings they earn to any student of their choice. With just a dollar a day from a grandparent or family friend, for example, the typical family's college saving's gap drops to just $3.27 a day.

The Citi Upromise Card is one of the most important features of the Upromise program because it accelerates college savings contributions in a number of ways:

* Purchases made on the card earn a 1 percent college savings contribution, even if the products and services are outside the Upromise network. (ii) * Cardholders can earn 10 percent of purchases on more than 7,000 Upromise items at participating grocery and drug stores, as well as 2 percent on eligible gasoline purchased at Exxon and Mobil locations. (ii) * Cardmembers can "double dip" by using the card to make purchases with other Upromise contributing companies. (iii) * Lastly, family members can apply for their own card and combine their savings.

To apply for the Citi Upromise Card, call 1-800-Upromise or visit http://www.upromise.citicards.com/.

About Citi

Citi is a member of Citigroup . Citigroup, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. Additional information may be found at http://www.citigroup.com/.

About Upromise

Upromise is America's largest private source of college aid. Membership is free and allows families to automatically save money for college while making everyday purchases at more than 20,000 grocery and drug stores, 14,000 gas stations, 8,000 restaurants, thousands of retail stores and more than 350 online shopping sites. Upromise's partners include Citi(R), Coca-Cola(R), Exxon Mobil Corporation, Kimberly-Clark, McDonald's(R), JCPenney.com, LandsEnd.com, sears.com, and hundreds of others. Upromise also makes it easy for families to invest in tax-advantaged college savings plans and to use contributions to pay off student loans. The 529 college savings plans are offered through Upromise Investments, Inc. (member NASD/SIPC) Upromise is headquartered in Needham, Mass. To learn more, visit http://www.upromise.com/ or call 781.707.8400.

About the Citi/Upromise study

The study projected a minimal daily savings requirement for five hypothetical families, with a range of incomes from $30,000 to $80,000, with one, two or no children, and at least one household with a single parent. The savings gaps varied by these assumptions as well as families' ages, college state tuitions, and retirement goals, but all averaged less than $7.00 per day.

(i) The college savings gap is the immediate amount of additional wealth that a family would require to finance a college education for their children, taking into account Pell Grant awards, while still meeting their retirement needs. (ii) Except for the college savings described below on participating grocery and drug store items and gas, the maximum amount of contributions into your Upromise account from Citi is 1% of $30,000 on purchases posted to your January to December billing statements, which is equal to $300 per credit card account per calendar year. Balance transfers, cardmembership fees, cash advances, returned purchases, convenience checks and finance charges do not earn college contributions. To receive college savings of 10% on 7,000+ grocery and drug store items you must (a) purchase participating grocery and drug store items at grocery and drug stores in the Upromise network in accordance with any manufacturer contribution requirements of such items, b) make such purchases with your Citi Upromise Card registered in your Upromise account, and (c) use a grocery or drug store loyalty card registered in your Upromise account at checkout. Please note that your Citi Upromise Card and your grocery and drug store loyalty cards must be registered in the same Upromise account. In order to get the 10% college savings in Upromise participating grocery and drug stores that do not offer a loyalty card, you must activate your registered Citi Upromise Card in the Grocery Card section of your Account Profile on the Upromise website. To receive college savings of 2% at Exxon and Mobil locations you must (a) make eligible gas purchases (excluding diesel fuel) in accordance with any Exxon and Mobil contribution requirements, and (b) use your Citi Upromise Card registered in your Upromise account. College savings earned on grocery and drug store items and gas in response to this offer are in addition to the 1% college savings on purchases, and are not limited in amount and are not subject to the maximum yearly college contribution cap from Citi. For complete program details see Reward Program Information at http://www.upromise.citicards.com/. A full list of participating grocery and drug store items and gasoline stations is available at upromise.com. (iii) A full list of participating companies is available at upromise.com. Some participating companies have additional terms and conditions you must satisfy to earn their contributions.

Website: http://www.citigroup.com http://www.upromise.com