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Based on survey responses from over 30, 000 undergraduate students from Australia’s universities, this report documents the financial cost to students of a university education in Australia. The survey builds upon four previous national surveys of the financial circumstances of higher education students undertaken in 1974, 1979, 1984 and 1991. The focus of the present survey is on the income, expenditure and debt profiles of domestic undergraduate students at Australian public universities and the impact of their financial circumstances on their studies. The results inform a number of issues of policy-related concern: the extent of financial hardship among university students; the extent to which full-time university students are engaging in longer hours of paid employment to support themselves financially; and the extent to which financial difficulties being experienced by university students are impacting adversely upon their studies. The following aspects are dealt with in detail: Chapter two - Categories of income and expenditure; Chapter three - Receipt of government income support; Chapter four - Debt; Chapter five - Payment of Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS); Chapter six - Finances and student choices; Chapter seven - Finances and part-time study; Chapter eight - Paid employment and study; Chapter nine - Childcare and study; and Chapter ten - Transport and study.