Financial stress increase for uni students

TWO in three of Australia's university students are living below the poverty line, a report says, as student debt soars.

The report from Universities Australia's longitudinal study of student finances, released on Monday, says more than two-thirds of students worry about their finances.

This is a big jump from when the last study was done in 2006, when only about half reported financial stress.

Two-thirds of undergraduates earned less than $20,000 a year, with about 21 per cent earning less than $10,000.

But their average annual expenditure was $37,020, with big increases in the housing, food and utility costs reported.

Almost one in five said they regularly couldn't afford food or other essential items while textbooks were the most difficult study-related expense to find room for in the budget.

A quarter of undergraduates had a loan of some kind, as did a third of post-graduate students.

And the estimated level of debt incurred from HECS and course fees jumped to $37,217 per student.

The levels of financial stress were even greater for students from low socio-economic (SES) backgrounds and indigenous students.

Only a third of indigenous students got some kind of support from their parents or partner, compared with just over half of their non-indigenous counterparts.

For all students, the most common type of family support was being fed, followed by getting use of a computer or printer.

"This report clearly shows that financial stress on university students is increasing," UA chief executive Belinda Robinson said.

"While the impact of this on dropout rates and future enrolments is unclear, it is of sufficient concern to justify close monitoring - particular in the context of meeting the government's goal to have 20 per cent of students from low SES backgrounds enrolled by 2020."

National Union of Students president Jade Tyrrell said student poverty had soared.

Students need more income support and it needs to be more flexible, waiting times need to be reduced and eligibility criteria relaxed, she said.

"A huge problem we face as students is that student poverty is seen as a right of passage almost and that needs to change," Ms Tyrrell told AAP.

The report also found the average student income was higher than in 2006 and students were more likely to have savings they could draw on in emergencies.

But it said the apparently contradictory findings pointed to an increasing polarisation between the "haves" and "have-nots".

"This would be unsurprising in view of the changes that have taken place in the sector since 2006, particularly the growth in participation by students who may not previously have been likely to enter higher education," the report states.

Universities Australia surveyed more than 11,700 students across a range of demographics for the study.

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