With college places starting to be announced on Monday, research results have been released showing just how much parents spend supporting their child through college.
The research done by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) found that parents are forking out more than €400 a month while their child is in college.
While the overall yearly cost is lower than previous years, more than half of the parents surveyed said they were struggling to cover the costs.
Even after an average of eight years of savings, many parents still found themselves in debt as they try to pay for their child’s third level education.
"Heading off to college is an exciting time. It can also be very stressful for parents and students alike, as the cost of third level education can be a significant burden," said Sinead Butler from the ILCU.
Their research also found that 4pc of parents used money lenders to meet the costs while nearly 35pc said they used savings and loans.
And depending on whether they are going to college at home or away, students could nearly double their monthly expenses by moving out of home and into college accommodation.
But students are not leaving it all to mum and dad as 25pc of them work to pay their way.
However, nearly 25pc of them are skipping classes just to get to work.
