Four in five parents of university-going students have made some sort of financial sacrifice to help their children attend, new research has shown.
With the increasing cost of living and even students who take loans not always having funds to get term to term, the burden of financing further eduction is increasingly falling to parents, data from Nationwide Building Society suggests.
Canvassing 1,000 parents of prospective, current or recently graduated students, the responses showed a massive 82 per cent have made a money-related sacrifice of some description, with the average monthly amount being £435 paid toward university costs – or more than £5,200 a year.
Almost half of parents (48 per cent) said supporting their child through university had caused financial strain on them, with almost a third (29 per cent) saying they had needed to dip into savings which were intended for something else.
More notably, 15 per cent took on extra work or a second job to bring financial aid to their young ones, while 13 per cent cut pension contributions and one in ten (10 per cent) had to delay retirement to continue supporting their child.
The research suggests tuition fees for universities in England have risen by an astonishing 879 per cent since their introduction in 1998.
Currently, the annual rate of fees is £9,790 – before cost of living expenses for university-goers are factored in. Inflation is set to run at above 3 per cent for the rest of 2026, further adding cost pressures for grocery shopping, energy bills and other costs.
Fred Powell, Head of Current Accounts at Nationwide, said: “University is an exciting next step, but our research shows the cost can affect the whole family, with many parents making significant sacrifices to support their children. Everyday budgeting and making the most of deals can help hugely, whether you are a parent or a student. We also have budgeting features in our app to help make life a little easier.
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“For parents who are helping to meet the costs of university, making their own money work harder can be an important part of managing the wider financial pressure.”
Alexandra Loydon, group advice director at St. James’s Place, added: “The best time to begin planning is often long before university. Regularly saving even relatively small amounts through options such as a Junior ISA can help spread the cost over several years. If a child does not go to university, the money could instead support another milestone, such as a house deposit.
“The key is to have an open conversation about what support is available and whether it is intended as a gift or a loan. Helping children through university can give them a valuable start, but it should not come at the cost of parents taking on unaffordable debt, underfunding their pensions or compromising their own retirement.”
PensionBee also recently highlighted how there remained £1.5bn in forgotten Child Trust Funds, which could help eligible individuals fund part of their university costs.
