The Universities Australia Student Finances Survey 2017 - released Monday - found that while the financial circumstances of students have slightly improved overall, this is because students are spending less, rather than earning more. Mr Rodriguez - who is now an Australian citizen - said the stress of overloading subjects and undertaking an unpaid internship in the hopes it would lead to graduate employment, caused his health and marks to deteriorate last year. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video “My [Pyrrole Syndrome] symptoms were exacerbated and, because I wasn’t getting paid, I was trying to afford things with money I didn’t have and relying on friends and family so I could just eat and pay for university expenses,” he said. “I had a mental breakdown and just dropped everything. With the help of family and friends, I managed to get back to study but I did fail half the subjects that semester because I just couldn’t handle it,” Mr Rodriguez said, adding that he is no longer eligible for Centrelink as he re-takes his failed units.

The survey - run out of the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education - found that, while the vast majority of those at university support themselves through paid work, around one third of full-time students have estimated expenses that are greater than their earnings. The survey also found that Indigenous students, as well as students from socioeconomic backgrounds and regional Australia, were more likely to be worried about their finances. Loading Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said financial hardship is hurting students’ education, with many students deferring studies or reducing their course load for financial reasons. “Students studying full-time are only living on $18,000 a year - that’s well below the poverty line,” Ms Jackson said.

“Our students should have the basic financial security and stability to perform at their best. Yet that’s simply not the case for many students from disadvantaged groups.” Of the majority of students who support themselves through paid work, “for many, the amount of work they need to do to support themselves financially comes at a cost to their studies,” Ms Jackson added. This was the case for University of Sydney student Abbie, who, by the second year of her social sciences degree, struggled to meet growing expenses: her rent went up, her laptop died, and she was in and out of hospital with chronic migraines, some of which left her paralysed. At one stage, Abbie was working three jobs across five days, and at least one night shift, a week, “bombing out” of her full-time university studies. She cut back on shifts and subjects. “I struggled to know what to prioritise and knew without work I would be homeless with no one else in the city for support,” she said. As her health continued to deteriorate, Abbie had rely on Centrelink’s Youth Allowance to make it through her last year of study, which - after covering rent and allowing her to catch public transport around five times a fortnight - left her with around $6 to spend on food a week.