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By Ashish Rajan, CardTrak.com

U.S. parents are expected to spend an average of $573 this season for back-to-school stuff. More than half of parents with children college age or younger said they plan to use payment cards for back-to-school purchases with 27% citing they plan to pay by credit card and 26% planning to pay by debit card. The projections come from MasterCard's second annual "Back to School Spending Index" survey. The survey found that 37% of parents expect to spend more this year than last and 22% anticipate 2005 back-to-school expenses for books, clothes, and supplies to exceed $750. Parents anticipate spending the most on clothing for the coming school year.