It can take between four and 13 years of full-time work to pay off a student loan - just for course fees.
The Bay of Plenty Times Weekend used figures from StudyLink, Careers NZ and Inland Revenue to work out how long it would take to pay off a student loan for a number of different qualifications based on average course fees per year.
The numbers did not take into account money borrowed to pay for living costs and course-related costs.
Tauranga Boys' College Year 13 student Adam Scott, 17, said he thought he would be able to pay off his student loan fairly quickly, but it was an issue people his age chose not to think about.
He planned on going to Auckland University to get a conjoint commerce and law degree before moving to England, although he might work in New Zealand for a period to avoid interest on his loan.
"The accommodation is the biggest fee...Law is $4000 to $5000 a year, about the same as commerce. One year at a halls of residence is about $13,000."
Adam said he wanted to start his own business and work at the same time so should be able to pay back his loan quickly.
Fellow student Henry Smith, 17, was planning a gap year before studying medicine or engineering. "The money isn't much of a factor for me. It's like a home loan, you just work it into your income. Money hasn't been much of a factor in deciding what to study."
Aquinas College principal Ray Scott said tertiary education institutes were invited to come to the school and talk about their programmes and the real costs of studying at polytech or university.
Mr Scott said cost was becoming "a major issue" nationwide. "There's a number of kids for whom it's just not feasible to go on to further study."
Most parents would like to help out as much as they could but this was out of reach for many, he said.
Tauranga Boys' College principal Robert Mangan said the size of a loan did not appear to influence his boys' choices, although they would be aware that medicine, pharmacy and engineering were at the higher end of the scale. "Generally our boys have very little idea about how long they would be expecting to pay off their loans."
Mr Mangan said students' career choice was influenced from home and exposure to a range of career opportunities while at school.
Otumoetai College acting principal Ricky Feutz said students at his school were given information about tertiary study by their careers service Pathways, including about the financial reality of being a student. The school also encouraged students to apply for as many scholarships as possible, some of which were available for those who earned a Merit or Excellence endorsement in their NCEA certificate, Mr Feutz said.