A study by the Australian Scholarships Group and Monash University, released on Tuesday, concluded that parents' aspirations for their children were strongly linked to academic success.

The report, based on 1900 parents' perceptions about education, found 95 per cent of private school parents spoke about higher education with their child, compared with 91 per cent in Catholic schools and 89 per cent in state schools.

"Parents of children attending private schools generally have higher aspirations for their children ... It can be concluded that these aspirations reflect an expectation by private school parents for a 'return on investment'," the report said.

The ethnicity of parents also came into play, with parents from Sri Lankan, Chinese and "other European and other Asian" backgrounds having higher aspirations for their child's education than British and Australian-born parents.

The report's co-author, Dr Shane Phillipson, an associate professor at Monash University's education faculty, said parents made significant decisions about their child's education based on their family's values, traditions and beliefs.

"In Hong Kong there is a culture of learning that pervades everything. The children grow up knowing that academic achievement is important and that continues on right through their education."

Parents were more likely to to nag their sons to study, believing boys were more distracted at school.

Fathers expressed "a more idealistic" view of their children's academic ability compared with mothers, who were more realistic, the report found.

Finances also cropped up as an issue, with 87 per cent of parents saying they needed more money to support their child's education. Almost 30 per cent of parents said they needed to work two jobs to support their child's education.

Australian Scholarships Group chief executive John Velegrinis said parents' views on education were often drowned out, with policy and funding decisions based on testing students, teachers and schools.

"We never hear the voice of the parents, who are the most important stakeholder of the group."

Our Children Our Schools president Cate Hall said state school parents had high aspirations for their children, who went to university and followed many different paths.

"What is great about public schools is that they take in a broad cross section of our society. It follows that public school parents, who of course want the best for their children, have a broad representation of aspirations."

Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Michelle Green said the study's findings were not surprising "given the commitment to education shown by parents who often make significant financial sacrifices to send their children to an independent school".

Catholic Education executive director Stephen Elder said the bulk of Catholic school parents expected their children would go to university, and they did.

"Ensuring students have the academic, social and emotional skills to achieve their goals, including acceptance into the university degree of their choice, is something Catholic schools pride themselves on," he said.

Australian Scholarships Group helps state, private and Catholic school parents plan for the cost of their children's education from early years through to tertiary studies.