Nearly three quarters of parents fear they will be unable to provide financial support for their children through university, new research suggests.
Some 72% of families have concerns about the cost of university in the future as tuition fees triple to up to £9,000, a survey of more than 1000 parents has found.
It follows official figures which revealed the numbers of UK students applying to start degree courses this autumn has slumped by almost 9%.
About 50,000 fewer applicants have applied for university compared with the same point last year - a drop of 8.9%, according to Ucas statistics.
The latest survey, by parenting website Mumsnet, also revealed 32% of parents had concerns about paying off debts, 24% were worried about childcare costs, and 27% feared they will no longer be to take family holidays.
But despite financial concerns, parents are taking increasing control of their finances, Mumsnet said.
The survey found almost half (46%) of people who have a partner said they have monthly discussions about their family finances.
Meanwhile, 78% of those who keep track of their family finances review their bank statements every month. And some 95% of parents said they were aware of the employee benefits they receive.
However, more than a third (37%) said they failed to consider the benefits they get through their employer when planning finances.
Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet, said: "Necessity means that lots of Mumsnet users have had to re-assess their spending over the past few years meaning many more are proactively managing their finances.
"It makes sense to also ensure employee benefits are factored into this planning, as some may be covered twice, under their own policy and their employer's potentially throwing away hundreds of pounds a year."