Nearly half of post-secondary students in Canada (48%) worry they won’t be able to cover this year’s tuition and living expenses, or pay back their debts once they graduate, says a new CIBC poll.
In addition, more than one-third expect to graduate with more than $25,000 in debt. To make matters worse, 37% of students say being able to find a job that pays well after graduation is a top concern.
“Debt [taken on] for tuition and books is a part of school for many students,” says Christina Kramer, executive VP of Retail and Business Banking at CIBC. But, “it’s important to avoid taking on additional debt by creating a realistic budget” to help cap living expenses.
Read: How post-secondary students can save
Another problem is 19% of students don’t expect to be able to support themselves financially while they’re in school. On the upside, those polled only predicted their parents will cover 22% of tuition and school costs, and that’s down from 33% in a similar poll from 2014.
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