September can be an opportunity for a fresh start as post-secondary students embark on another year of education. But it can also mean a trying and stressful time as they search for funds to pay their way through school.

For Kiara Hildebrand, it meant relying on her parents, the government, student loans, a summer job, and scholarships and bursaries to get her through 5.5 years of nursing school at the University of Manitoba and Brandon University.

The Altona native recalls the pressure she faced when pulling together finances for each school year.

"It was definitely stressful at times, particularly because there's a lot of hoops to jump through with Canada and Manitoba student loans. They don't always come in in time for the school year, so finding a way to pay for tuition, and books, and things like that based on a summer salary is very difficult," she said.

Hildebrand noticed that being a student from a rural community intensified the financial stress even further (compared to someone living in a city and attending a nearby school), as it meant paying for additional expenses like moving, rent, groceries, and transportation to occasionally travel to her hometown.

She said part of having access to limited funds meant adjusting her lifestyle and priorities.

"Your social life definitely is not the same as what it once was ... I would say that it's difficult because school is your focus and you're supposed to be giving 110 per cent into your school life, focusing on the next assignment, the next exam, but it's very stressful when you're worrying about how you're going to afford the materials to study for that exam or complete that assignment," she said.

Hildebrand is not the only student who feels this way, though, says Larry Davey, the president and CEO of Access Credit Union.

"Any student entering the process is certainly enjoying some stress, or not enjoying some stress. A lot of it's very new to them," Davey said.

According to Statistics Canada, about half of Canadian post-secondary students owe money on government or non-government loans - such as family and bank loans - when they graduate.

Davey suggests building a positive support system, tracking expenses, creating a budget, seeking financial literacy advice, and applying for scholarships and bursaries.

"But you also want to have friends and relatives that you can sit down with and if there is an issue, understand that first, you're not the only one going through this, and at the end of the day if you take the right steps it's usually going to work out fine," Davey said.

When it comes to rising interest rates, he says it's likely they won't have a major impact, only moderate effects over the course of time.

"In the long run, are rates expected to jump up five or 10 per cent? They're not. They're expected to maybe go up another percent or so," he said.

Hildebrand says there's "lots of anxiety, lots of tears, but in the end it's worth it."

"You find ways to have fun without spending money. You definitely turn to your family and friends for support. You do what you can to save money at that time, and like I said you just put your focus into school because that's what you're paying for so you make that your first priority," she said.

Davey says the quintessential tactic for surviving student financial stress is to be aware.

"Probably the most important is to have somebody you can speak to about it, both on the social side and business side, so that you can develop that comfort level and so that you have a really good understanding of how the process will unwind," he said.