Aysha Willis has a lot on her plate.
In addition to her full-time anatomy and physiology studies, Ms Willis has several jobs, including one as an overnight security guard and another as a debt collector.
On an average night, she gets less than five hours of sleep.
''It's hard,'' she said.
''It really affects your sleep, it really affects your grades.''
She is one of 5000 students who responded to a survey on student finances commissioned by the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations (NZUSA).
The study found government student loans were falling short of the cost of living across the country even as the national student debt total nudges $15 billion.
Ms Willis might not be the stereotypical student - she is 34 years old and has a mortgage - but her situation is more typical than the recently quoted students who spent their Studylink loans on Taylor Swift concert tickets, she says.
''Not everyone does that. There's just so many people that work so hard and have nothing.''
NZUSA data agrees with her - the report found 90% of students surveyed had some kind of debt, and 44% said they ''do not have enough income to meet their basic needs''.
The average student debt is $24,405. And well over half of the students surveyed (65%) said debt would affect their decision to pursue study in the future, which NZUSA president Rory McCourt said could have consequences for the future of tertiary education.
''We're incredibly concerned about that [figure], especially as modelling shows student numbers falling away.''
That deserved ''a lot of attention from institutions about how costs are becoming a barrier to people seeking opportunity''.
And while Dunedin rents remain relatively low, even Dunedin rents were found to eat up 66% of the maximum weekly student loan allowance on average.
Otago University Students' Association president Paul Hunt said despite Dunedin's lower rents, ''due to our climate and housing stock, many students spend a significant amount of time and money on ... power and heating appliances to make their flats comfortable''.
The NZUSA report also found that, of the six cities surveyed, Dunedin was the only one where students' spending on entertainment did not drop.
That may reflect a changing demographic at the University of Otago, it speculates.
''Increasingly, only students already being supported by their families can afford to attend the University of Otago.''
Mr McCourt said students in Dunedin ''have seen their living standards erode over the past 20 years ... rent as a share of income has more than doubled since 1993, while student support has been falling''.
And nationwide, he said, student debt in New Zealand was ''catching up'' to the United States, where average student debt was only $2000 more than in New Zealand.
''We're catching up to the United States in the worst way possible,'' he said.
Along with the report, the NZUSA issued a series of ''urgent'' recommendations to the Government, which included ''reversing the Government's heartless cuts to student allowances that have pushed an extra 6000 students into toxic debt''.
Mr Hunt said the underlying problem for students was ''that the student allowances have remained the same while living costs increase each year''.
''The Government should review student allowances to ensure students can afford to live in reasonable conditions while studying,'' he said.
''If students have to work an excessive number of hours and live in unhealthy flats, students will not achieve their full academic potential.''
Quoted in the NZUSA report, Ms Willis said her budget left her 57 cents at the end of the week if she did not get any overtime.
She will graduate next year with about $33,000 in student loan debt.
Often, she says, she and her flatmates have to choose between budgeting for food and paying the power bill.
This week, she said, it's power.
A day in the life of Aysha Willis
Leave house: by 7.30am
Lectures, tutorials, labs, other activities on campus: 9am-5.30pm
Work: 5.30-8pm
Second work: 10pm-2am
Facts from report
$15 billion: predicted student debt by February 2016
$24,405: average student debt (up 57% since 2010)
65% of student respondents: debt will affect decision to study in future
14 hours: average number of hours worked per week, up from 12 in 2010
90% of students: have some form of debt
