Current university students face more financial pressure than former students: study

Saskatchewan students have always had to balance the finances of going to school, mixed with rent, vehicle costs and more.

But according to a recent study, students now have it a lot tougher than students of the past.

The survey conducted by TD Bank Group found 82 per cent of former Saskatchewan & Manitoba post-secondary students believe that current students are faced with more challenges related to financial affordability.

And Canada-wide, 73 per cent of Canadians hold the same view.

“We’re in a much more difficult economic climate,” Emily Ross, the vice president of Everyday Advice Journey at TD. “I think if you look at the cost of post-secondary education, it’s increased quite a lot, and if you think about the expenses that students have to budget for, they’re some of the people we’ve seen been impacted by higher inflation levels.”

For students at the University of Regina, inflation is forcing them to learn difficult lessons outside the classroom.

Barjees Ashraf, a science student in her first year, has a sister in her third year and said her family has been forced to heavily rely on loans and scholarships to afford tuition.

“It’s insane,” she said as she described the situation. “I tutor and I’m planning on also getting a part time job along with all of the other financial help I’ve been getting so far (to help with costs).”

Ashtyn Ritco, another first year at the U of R said the jump to university has forced her to learn about financing.

“I’m definitely learning how to budget,” she said. “I’m starting to pay my car off so I had to take out a loan and now I’m figuring out how to do that and save my money a lot better. Especially as a first year, I didn’t really know how to do that before.”

Several students that Global News spoke with said parents helping pay for school is one of the ways it is actually affordable, but even then a part-time job is needed to help cover costs.

“Without my parents, I don’t think it would be affordable at all,” Taqwa Tasneem, a computer science student said.

And with tuition at the U of R due on the first day of classes, it has been a stressful time for many.