Many University of Wollongong students are feeling financial pressures after moving out of home, as they struggle to cope with the continued rise in the cost of living.
A full time Australian student needs to commit to 20-24 hours per week to be successful in their studies and some are struggling to cope with workload pressures, according to comparison website Finder.
Students are needing to increase their work hours to just support themselves, leaving most students in the red straight off the bat.
According to data from a Finder survey and Study Australia’s cost of living calculator, the average Australian university student who lives out of home is making negative $585 every week.
The survey is based on an average student living in Sydney’s suburbs in a sharehouse, rides their bike everywhere, doesn’t eat out at all, doesn’t subscribe to any services like gyms or Netflix, has the cheapest phone plan, and doesn’t go out at night.
UOW Nutrition and Dietetics student Thomas Papin said it’s not the life students dream of.
“It’s definitely harder (than living at home), I don’t have any Saturdays, I work every week, my only day to really socialise is a Sunday,” Mr Papin said.
Students living out of home have to work extremely hard to just get by, he added.
“I work 20 hours a week on top of 20 hours studying,” Mr Papin said. “The same as a full time worker.”
The Student Experience Survey, which was carried out by The Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching (QILT) measures key data in relation to the higher education student experience.
The survey shows that in 2023 for the third consecutive year of increases with the overall student experience as a percentage. It should be noted though, that the ratings received a significant reduction in 2020 and are slowly climbing back to the level they were in the years before.
This slow climb could be due to the financial pressure felt by newer students beginning their studies.
Psychology Student at UOW Lola Downey said the rise in the cost of living made it difficult to save.
“It’s pretty much impossible to save, once I finish my degree it’ll be like starting again compared to people living at home who are to build on their savings,” she said.
“There’s so many little expenses you don’t even think about.”
