Still looking for a last-minute Christmas gift for the kids?

Think college tuition.

“You can’t go wrong,” said Peter Mazareas, vice chairman of the Washington-based College Savings Foundation. “Every little bit helps.”

While it may not have occurred to you — and definitely not your 5- year-old — groups like the College Savings Foundation suggest parents, grandparents, uncles or aunts give serious thought to trading some “toys for tuition” this gift-giving season.

“Especially when they’re extremely young, and don’t anticipate seeing a large box under the tree, a gift for college is extremely valuable,” said Bernie Aja, vice president and area retail leader for KeyBank.

Consider the college landscape:

Tuition, fees, room and board at four-year private colleges rose 5.6 percent this year to an average of $34,132 a year, according to The College Board.

Those same costs at four-year public colleges rose 5.7 percent to an average of $14,333 a year for instate undergraduates.

In light of tough fiscal times, the State University of New York recently raised tuition more than $600, and at the same time the state proposed cutting $47 million from its Tuition Assistance Program, the nation’s largest grant program.

Then there’s concern that the turmoil in the credit market could make it harder to get loans — at least private loans — to cover the rapidly rising education costs.

“I try not to scare parents, but I try to make them aware of the fact that they need to do something,” said Merri Carol Hall, a certified financial planner for M&T Securities. “That doesn’t mean they should forgo their own retirement or put their house in hock to do it, but this situation isn’t going to go away.”

This holiday season, in particular, might be a good year for family and friends to consider a contribution for college as a gift.

Forty-three percent of parents saved nothing for their child’s education this year, up from 27 percent last year, according to the College Savings Foundation’s recent survey of 800 parents.

“In 2008, I personally have seen a fall-off, just because of the economy,” Hall said.

Likewise, parents who did save, saved less this year, the survey showed.

And many took a hit along with Wall Street.

Assets in the popular 529 college savings plan — a state-sponsored investment program with tax advantages — fell from an estimated $110.6 billion to $101.7 billion, according to the foundation, created by the financial industry to promote 529 plans.

And that was just between June and September — the latest figures available — before the stock market really took a plunge.

Financial experts, though, are noticing other family members — specifically grandparents — stepping up to help parents when it comes to saving for college.

“And I can’t stress enough the importance of beginning early,” Aja said.