Most commencing students ‘already have retirement funds’

More than half of Australian adolescents already have superannuation accounts by the time they leave school, suggesting they have the aptitude to pay their way through higher education – and experiential grounds to question its value.

A survey of more than 14,000 school leavers in every state and territory has uncovered a high level of financial self-reliance among the mostly 18-year-old respondents.

Fifty-seven per cent held part-time or casual jobs as year 12 students, and 56 per cent were already members of superannuation funds, a type of retirement savings system used in Australia. Most planned to live off their own earnings in the years ahead, with only 17 per cent envisaging parental support and just 2 per cent expecting to be kept afloat by government assistance.

The survey was the third in an annual series conducted by the Sydney-based Universities Admissions Centre (UAC). It took place between November 2022 and February 2023, with young women comprising almost two-thirds of respondents.

UAC’s general manager of marketing and engagement, Kim Paino, said the results suggested students at school were gearing up for the financial imperative of supporting themselves at university. But this made higher education a hard sell for young people who had already tasted self-reliance and would seek reassurance that the employment outcomes of study warranted a few more years out of the full-time workforce.

She said students contemplating university degrees were asking “what’s at the end of it?”, and seeking “some sense that the opportunity cost…will pay off down the line”, particularly as money worries grow. 

While the survey methodology did not exclude people with no intention of going to university, Ms Paino said the self-selecting sample was almost certainly skewed towards prospective higher education students. The respondents displayed considerable financial prudence, with 92 per cent saying they made conscious efforts to save money every week.

Eighty-three per cent said they never used buy-now, pay later services – perhaps ironically, for a survey gauging attitudes to a higher education system mostly financed on that principle.

Despite their instinct for self-reliance, students were not backward in canvassing external support options. One-quarter said scholarship availability influenced their choice of university and one-third said they had applied for financial assistance.

The report says students generally appeared “eager to escape the perceived limitations of their high school lives” and embrace “greater control over their learning”, with a hunger to taste new experiences and forge new friendships. “Passion for subject matter” trumped employability outcomes and internship opportunities in guiding course choice.

While respondents wanted campuses with free wi-fi, cheap food and learning facilities open around the clock, campus culture and “vibe” were the dominant considerations in institutional choice. Just 2 per cent of students favoured purely remote study and 38 per cent preferred hybrid modes, reflecting a widespread hunger for campus-based experiences.

Asked “what matters most” about the future, respondents proved most likely to put “feeling safe” at the top of the list – even though concern about climate change and particularly coronavirus had declined markedly since the previous survey.

“Having experienced that big upheaval with Covid, maybe they just feel less safe generally,” Ms Paino speculated. “Covid itself – not really an issue; that’s kind of yesterday’s news. But it’s shaken their sense that the world is safe.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com