Students are prepared to make short-term financial sacrifices for long-term career and lifestyle gains, a major survey of final-year undergraduates has found.

The researchers said their findings dispelled the myth that all students were drinking, drug-taking hedonists.

About 18% of students expected to leave university with no debt but, at the other extreme, 12% believed thewould have to repay loans of #5000 or more on graduation, said the survey, carried out by the market research company, High Fliers.

Nearly 5000 students throughout Britain were interviewed last December for the survey, sponsored by MTV and commissioned by several major graduate recruiting companies.

More than 400 students from two Scottish universities, Edinburgh and Strathclyde, were interviewed for the research project, published today.

Edinburgh University students predicted the third highest debt level in Britain, #2760, while their counterparts at Strathclyde in Glasgow thought they would graduate owing an average of #2260. Strathclyde recruits most of its students from the West of Scotland and many live at home, which keeps their living costs down.

Strathclyde students also had the lowest expectations for a starting salary, #13,800 compared with #14,100 at Edinburgh. Both figures are below the average, about #15,000.

The results showed that one finalist in 10 throughout Britain owned a mobile phone, one in three a personal computer, while almost two-thirds had their own audio or hi-fi equipment.

One student in five owned a car and a further 25% expected to buy one within 12 months of graduating.

About half expected to go on holiday in Europe after their finals, while a further third believed they would travel farther afield before taking up a graduate job.

Nearly half said they could not live without alcohol, while about one-third said they could not do without chocolate.

More than one student in four admitted taking drugs, although a further quarter declined to answer the question.

Lager was the most popular drink, with an average of 8.9 pints being swallowed each week. More than one student in five drank alcopops, which were almost as popular as bottled beer and real ale.

Lager consumption was well above the national average at both Edinburgh and Strathclyde, while students in Edinburgh's biggest university said they took more drugs than the average. Their counterparts at Strathclyde reported below-average drug-taking.

More students watched TV than read newspapers or listened to radio. BBC1 was the most popular channel, with three-quarters of students watching it every day. ITV was watched by 67% of students daily.

At Strathclyde, Friends was the most popular programme, followed by EastEnders.

With the exception of the Scottish universities, few students read local or regional papers.

About 75% had used the Internet.

Mr Martin Birchell, director of the Graduate Consumers survey, said: ''The class of '97 has shown itself to be ambitious, potentially big spenders, and willing to take advantage of the latest technology.

''It tends to buy mainstream products and services and prefers to get its information from electronic media rather than more traditional sources.''

The 20 universities chosen for the survey had attracted the most interest from employers, High Fliers said.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Students said today that the trend among universities to supplement income from vacation conference trade had meant that undergraduates were paying more for ''luxury'' accommodation.

Students at City University in London now paid the entire maximum grant plus #379 on self-catering accommodation during term-time, while even at the ''cheap'' end of the scale an undergraduate at St Andrews University would have to allocate 56% of the maximum grant on accommodation in halls.

NUS president Douglas Trainer said: ''Hall fees nationally are up 10%, while the rise in rented accommodation in the private sector is half of one per cent.''