Parents' educational aspirations are higher for their daughters than their sons, but daughters may be pushed harder because it is believed they're at a disadvantage.

A study released today undertaken by Monash University and released by the Australian Scholarship Group has evaluated the state of education from a parents' perspective.

ASG's CEO John Velegrinis said parents may be concerned their daughters will have a tougher fight on their hands in the job market, but he also points out there's an expectation boys will catch up.

"Girls sometimes are perceived to have a greater level of challenge and so therefore the expectation is higher because they will have to compete in a mismatched environment."

"Sometimes it actually can be because of the different maturity cycles that boys and girls go through. Boys tend to be slower lowers and then catch up more rapidly."

The study also found parents would like more money to support their children's education.

83 percent of those 2200 people surveyed across both Australia and New Zealand said they were concerned about the costs of education.

Velegrinis said parents may be reacting to a very real reality.

"In New Zealand over the last ten years education CPI - or the cost of education - has risen at one and a half times the annual rate of the cost of living so in a real sense, education costs are increasing."

44 percent said they could not afford after school tutorials for their children, and 20 percent said they needed to work two jobs to pay for schooling costs.