The Australian Scholarships Group's (ASG's) Education Cost Estimates calculated from preschool to high school $52,598 will be forked out by parents in regional areas on a government school education. For a systemic school, like a Catholic school, the figure jumps to $167,021, which is more than doubled for a private school at $349,941.

When it came to the 2015 secondary school costs for NSW regional government schools, the highest amount was spent on extracurricular activities ($1,463), followed by computers ($819) and fees ($505).

Extracurricular activities, computers and fees were also the three highest costs for primary students.

The estimated cost of a government education in regional NSW is $1,678 higher than the national regional average, only beaten in cost by regional Victoria.

A private school education is also higher than the national regional average by a significant $20,960.

However, systemic schools- religious schools- were $5,310 below the national regional average.

ASG CEO John Velegrinis said the cost of education continued to rise at more than twice the rate of inflation over the past decade.

"Regardless of whether you send your children to a government, systemic or private school, the costs of that education will clearly increase which is why we advocate that parents start planning for education from as early as possible, even from the moment their child is born," he said.

"We are very fortunate in Australia to have a variety of excellent government, systemic and private schools. If you have two or three children, the cost of a private education in regional NSW could be higher than the purchase price of the family home. We advocate parents use a disciplined approach by putting a little bit away each week so they financially can afford their children's educational goals and aspirations."