Forget college tuition. Annual childcare costs exceed $20,000 here

Got $20,000? It could help pay for college tuition — or it can foot the bill for daycare expenses.

That’s close to the annual childcare bill for Kathleen and Dustin Farhat, a couple in Bath, Michigan, according to a report in “Bridge” magazine, published by state-policy think tank The Center for Michigan.

Childcare for the Farhats’ two children, a 5-month-old and a 3-year-old, will run $23,200 over the course of 50 weeks, the Center found.

In comparison, the typical middle-class family can expect to pay about $40,000 for four years of tuition, fees, books, room and board at the University of Michigan, if they are state residents, according to The Center.

The Farhats aren’t alone.

Across the country, the average annual cost of childcare is approaching parity with the cost of in-state tuition at some universities, according to data from Child Care Aware of America, an advocacy group.

Here’s how expenses measure up elsewhere.