Half of parents with student children are opening their wallets to see them through financially.
Financial help from parents tides 53 percent of students over during their university life, Halifax has found.
The new research shows that the "bank of mum and dad" is the biggest single source of student funding in the UK. Government financial support, by contrast, was only received by 49 percent.
Elsewhere, paid employment (48 percent), borrowing money (41 percent) and dipping into savings (36 percent) also proved popular among students. When Halifax took the same survey last year, having a job was found to be the single most popular means of financial support.
Mike Regnier, head of banking at Halifax, commented: "These results show how much students still rely on their parents even though they are leaving the nest to go off to college or university. The bank of mum and dad is still a key contributor to students affording further education, even with the additional funding that is available to them."
A conservative trend among students was also picked up by the new Halifax study. While this year 36 percent of students said that they used savings to fund their studies, in 2007 this total stood at just 29 percent.
This could signify that, with the credit crunch hitting the headlines in the intervening months, young Britons are becoming more prudent with their money.
