Karen Proud and David Couchman could even have to sell their house to make it happen.

The family is caught in the middle of the uncertainty over the federal government’s youth allowance.

The couple has a blended family of six children – two are at university and another deferred this year.

Ms Proud agreed the youth allowance needed reform, but not at the disadvantage of rural and regional students who lived away from home to attend university.

“We are giving such a grim message about how much we value education in our country,” she said.

Ms Proud said there was no way the family could spare $60,000 a year after tax to meet accommodation and living costs for three children to attend university next year.

“We would have to sell our family home and consider moving back to an urban area as other people have done,” she said.

Lara Proud deferred a medicine degree at the University of New England in Armidale this year.

The 18-year-old is working two jobs during a gap year but doesn’t know what the future holds.

“It was such a hard decision [to take a gap year] but we couldn’t afford for me to go,” Lara said.

“I’ve applied for so many scholarships but, ultimately, it does come down to the youth allowance because we need that money,” she said.

Briana Proud, 20, is studying arts/law at the University of NSW in Sydney and 18-year-old Johanna Couchman started an agricultural science degree at the University of Sydney this year.

Briana has received intermittent youth allowance and Johanna will qualify for the youth allowance from May under the old system.

The federal government insists the youth allowance changes, which boost the hours students must work to become “independent” from their parents, would enable more people to receive the payments and block those who do not need support.

But the Coalition says it would disadvantage regional students.

The issue stalled in the Senate last year.

Caree Alexander also hopes her daughter, 18-year-old Natassja, will be eligible for the youth allowance in May after she took a gap year.

“It means we basically have to support her for five months of uni,” Ms Alexander said.

Nationals Senator for NSW Fiona Nash said the government’s youth allowance plan would severely disadvantage regional students.

She said the key issue was the inequity between metropolitan and regional students.

The Nationals’ Lyne candidate David Gillespie said the government was making it harder for kids in regional areas to go to university.