These days even the most humble of accommodation in the old student hangouts in Melbourne, for example, are pretty much out of reach of most university undergraduates.

And the approach to tutorials and lectures and the never-ending assignments is nothing short of rigorous for many students.

Latrobe University pro vice-chancellor of regional campuses Richard Speed summed that up when he described how many students “are making exceptional investment in their own and their family’s future through study and their determination to achieve that is breath-taking”.

What has always been the case is the extra challenges faced by kids from the country compared with their city counterparts.

You simply don’t have the option of staying at home for a few extra years of study, free of the cost pressures that come if you have to actually find somewhere to live.

If you have to simply cross a few suburbs, where public transport is plentiful, it’s just not the same, especially when you know that a bed and meal will be waiting for you at the end of the day at the folks’ place.

That reality is borne out in the 2017 Universities Australia Student Finances Survey, something that certainly is not a surprise.

One stark fact is that one in five university students from regional areas regularly go without food and other necessities simply because they don’t have enough cash.

A flow-on from that is that such financial hardship can result in students from regional areas deferring at a rate almost twice that of those from the city.

One figure from the survey is especially concerning; that 64 per cent of regional students say their financial situation is a worry.

These findings are concerning but of course there is no quick fix.

Rather, it is crucial that pressure is maintained to ensure future policy planning addresses this imbalance.