A new study shows that Americans are saving at record levels for their kids’ college educations, but it still isn’t enough to keep pace with rising costs.

Americans are saving for college at record rates, according to new research released Wednesday by financial services firm Fidelity Investments.

Sixty-nine percent of families told Fidelity’s annual College Savings Indicator study that they have started saving for college, with parents putting away an average of $5,000 last year. That’s up from 58 percent in 2007 and the highest percentage since the survey of more than 2,500 parents nationwide began seven years ago. The survey was conducted by Research Data Technology, an independent firm.

Escalating costs, an improving economy, and increased awareness of savings vehicles like 529 college savings plans all appear to be behind the increase. Rising federal tax rates – for instance, the payroll tax hike in January – may also be convincing more parents to open those state-sponsored 529s, because they offer tax breaks, according to Keith Bernhardt, vice president of college planning at Fidelity.

Yet these latest findings also confirm what fearful parents have expected and several other surveys have shown: many of those dedicated savers still remain a long way from reaching their already-modest goals.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents reported having a financial plan for college, and parents plan to pay, on average, 62 percent of the total cost. “But, in reality, they are only on track to cover just one-third,” Bernhardt said.

Jill Morrow knows how that shortfall can feel. A mother of two teens and a toddler in Naperville, Illinois, Morrow and her husband started bank savings accounts for each of her kids when they were born and once thought they’d pay for college in full. After a divorce and patchy employment as a real estate agent, however, Morrow recently promised her older daughter and son she’d do her best to split tuition and fees with them.

“It’s still probably going to take loans for all of us, and that’s hard to swallow,” she said.