Research Question and Hypothesis

Forgive my entering this discussion late, but from what I understand a more appropriate target population to sample would be graduating students. To discuss how grade 12 graduating students are going to pay for their schooling relies on a lot of speculation on their part, and it is quite common for students to change the direction of their education in the first year or two. By surveying those who are graduating we can instead move towards more concrete questions, such as "How did you pay for your education?" rather than "How do you intend to pay for your education?".

Secondly, while specific degrees and programs vary between post secondary institutions, a question involving every nuance and possibility is in my opinion unfeasible. To that end, I would propose such a question be disseminated into a few (9?) broader categories. Perhaps something as simple as follows:

"Which branch of study is your degree most related to?"

 a) Arts - Social Sciences
 b) Arts - Fine arts, music, design
 c) Business - Economics, Statistics
 d) Engineering - Mechanical, Computer, Architectural
 e) Sciences - Biology, Chemistry, Forestry, Geology
 f) Sciences - Math, Physics
 g) Care giving - Nursing, social work, palliative care
 h) Professional - Law, Doctoral, etc.
 I) Trade / Technical - Carpentry, Mechanics, technical design

From there if we also asked a question as to what level of education parents or guardians have, it would be simple to index the degree of parental financial support and corroboration between the student's degree and the parents / guardians without asking explicitly. Opinions?