Are too many people wasting their time going to university?

Students are underestimating the cost of tertiary study and setting themselves up for a future of debt, a new study has found.

The Canterbury University PhD research, which tracked 1232 final-year secondary school pupils through their first two years at university, found they overestimated their annual incomes as students and underestimated the cost of living and studying, the Press newspaper reported.

Nearly half of the students said debt was a normal part of today's lifestyle.

PhD student Steve Haultain said students were not fully aware of the cost of a tertiary loan and the options available.

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