Parents are spending almost €4,500 a year to put their kids through college.
The annual survey from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) shows that 60% of parents will get into debt to fund third level education.
It also shows increase in the number of college students living at home and working throughout the academic year.
According to the poll, 87% of Irish parents support their children with college-related costs by contributing an average of €447 per month per child.
Those costs are primarily covered by monthly income (40%), credit union loans (37%), and savings (34%).
9% of parents say they do not struggle to cover costs of 3rd level education, while 18% say they have been saving for years.
However, 53% said it is 'really hard' to cover costs due to rising costs, while 5% said they cannot afford to send their child to college. The remaining 15% said it is a 'huge struggle'.
Sinead Butler is spokesperson for the ILCU and spoke to Newstalk Breakfast about the figures.
"More students seem to be moving home to live with mum and dad," she explained.
"While there is a decrease in the monthly expenditure of parents in the financial contribution for the day-to-day, we are seeing the increase from 62% last year of students living at home, to 65% this year. We reckon that could be why the amount that is being forked out by parents on a monthly basis is falling," she added.
