Elizabeth Denney-Wilson and daughter Louisa Wilson. Credit:Kirk Gilmour "I was very, very surprised, I didn't think it would be anything near as expensive as it was," Ms Wilson said. "I hadn't really put proper thought into how much that all costs, I guess." At $20,000 a year, the Wilsons' contribution toward's Louisa's university costs are generous, according to a new global survey that found Australian parents rank among the most miserly when it comes to helping their children pay for tertiary education. Less than 60 per cent contribute towards their child's tertiary education costs – the lowest proportion of the 15 countries surveyed in the Value of Education: Foundations for the Future research, conducted by Ipsos MORI and commissioned by HSBC. The report surveyed more than 6200 parents with children aged 23 or younger in 15 countries.

Among those who put a dollar figure on their support, the average contribution totalled less than $7000 a year, placing Australia 10th out of 15 when contributions were ranked from most to least generous. Although fewer than 500 Australians were surveyed, the research is among the first to try to compare how much parents pay towards the cost of university. "In Australia we have HECS for higher education, meaning both the cost of the education and the way in which the loan is paid back is very favourable to the student," said Tim Pitman, a senior research fellow from Curtin University's National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education. "So parents' attitudes to saving for university are fundamentally different than, say, the US, where it costs a lot more on average and student loans are generally at commercial rates."

Varying levels of government subsidy and student assistance such as scholarships, loans and social support payments made international comparisons very difficult, Dr Pitman said. For example, the vast majority of undergraduate domestic students in Australia and the UK draw on public loans to cover most or all of their tuition costs. This is a far cry from the US, where fewer than two-thirds of students have a public loan and the average loan covers less than half the cost of tuition, according to the latest figures from the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development. Australian parents spent an average of $US 5150 ($6900) a year on their child's tertiary education, compared with $US 6570 ($8800) in the UK and $US 14,700 ($19,700) in the US, the Value of Education survey found.

Only 58 per cent of Australian parents contributed any money at all, compared with 97 per cent in Egypt, 90 per cent in China, 79 per cent in the US and 67 per cent in the UK. Australian parents may look like penny-pinchers, but the figures also reflect Australia's position as a "tertiary education exporter", Dr Pitman said. This means most Australians attend local universities and international students make up a large share of our student population. "In contrast, for example, Singapore is a tertiary education importer, sending more students overseas than are taught in Singapore. So parents factor in higher costs to allow for this," he said. Technology bills, food and textbooks were the most common expenses Australian parents help to cover, with roughly half saying they paid towards these, according to the survey. Just over 40 per cent said they contributed towards study fees.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the survey of parents painted them in a far more generous light than a 2012 Universities Australia survey of students. According to the latter, only 36 per cent of domestic undergraduate students received financial support from their parents, including 9 per cent whose parents contributed towards their tuition fees. Researcher and policy analyst Gwilym Croucher from the University of Melbourne's Centre for the Study of Higher Education said the $7000 figure may be plausible for tertiary students who had recently left school but it was unlikely to apply to the wider student population. "Students in Australia have much more diverse backgrounds now; they're not just school leavers," Dr Croucher said. "We also know a huge proportion of undergraduate students have part-time work, so I would imagine levels of students support would be less than what they were in the past."

In 2012, eight in 10 domestic full-time undergraduate students worked during semester, compared with seven in 10 in 2000 and five in 10 in 1984, according to Universities Australia research. Dr Denney-Wilson, an academic at UTS, said students who didn't have parental support were at a distinct disadvantage. "It's tough for university students. I see the way a lot of my students are working so many hours to afford living in Sydney while studying and I think it's really sad," she said. "They're rushing to class after doing night shifts. They're travelling long distances into the city and coming in really tired … There's so much to learn at university that's not taught in the classroom but they don't seem to be making friends or participating in university life. "That's not something we factor in when we talk about that cost of a university degree."