As a freshman at Point Park University with scholarships, student loans and a work study job, Aldona Bird takes pride in the contribution she is making to her college education.

"It really prepares me for when I won't have any backup," said Ms. Bird, an 18-year-old photojournalism major from Masontown, W.Va. "It makes me realize what I'll be facing when I leave college."

Her knack for managing her finances -- while noteworthy -- is apparently not uncommon on Pittsburgh college campuses, according to a recent survey by Visa, which showed Pittsburgh students are on average more self-reliant than students nationwide.

The study showed, not surprisingly, that the No. 1 source of college funding is parents. But while 18 percent of Pittsburgh college students relied primarily on their parents to pay for college, 23 percent of students nationwide did so.

"We think students in the Pittsburgh area are frankly more self-reliant," said Jason Alderman, director of financial education for Visa in San Francisco.

Researchers interviewed 400 current students and college graduates in 16 major cities who attended college within the past five years.

Students in Cincinnati and San Francisco were the most reliant on their parents for help -- 24 percent of the students in those cities depended on their parents as the primary source of funding for college.

As higher education gets more expensive each year, the survey showed Pittsburgh students are shouldering the lion's share of that burden on their own. Nationally, only 9 percent of students used their own savings to pay for college, compared with 14 percent of Pittsburgh college students.

Pittsburgh area college students also differed in other noteworthy areas, such as bank loans and government grants.

Nationally 7 percent of college students used bank loans to pay for college and 15 percent used government grants as their primary funding. About 12 percent of Pittsburgh students, on the other hand, used private bank loans for college (tied with Chicago) and 6 percent of them used government grants (the least of any of the 16 cities surveyed).

"Students are under a lot of pressure now," said Natalie Wilson, director of financial aid at Carlow University. "Many parents want to help, but are unable to because of their own financial situations.

"We have a lot of students who are working one or two jobs to support themselves and pay for their education. They are borrowing student loans they will ultimately have to pay back when they graduate. And we want our students to be educated consumers and know the ramifications of the loans they borrow."

Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of finaid.org, a Web site for student financial aid information, advice and tools, said it's unlikely the study results are related to tuition discrepancies because college costs here are not much higher than other parts of the country.

"Students who don't have as much support from parents are more likely to borrow and are less likely to apply for financial aid," Mr. Kantrowitz said.

Point Park University senior Jessica Sarli, 23, said she has been on her own since age 19. Her heavy course load leaves little time for a job so she is forced to borrow.

"The school is giving me some scholarship money and a few grants, but the majority of my tuition is paid with student loans," said Ms. Sarli, a senior dance major. "When I leave school I'll have thousands and thousands in debt and I'm sure there are some kids here who will leave with no debt."