By Bill DeBaun, Senior Director, Data and Strategic Iniativies
Reading time: Six minutes
More than half of surveyed undergraduates would have trouble coming up with $500 and about half of respondents said their financial instability interfered with their ability to focus on their schoolwork.
Students’ postsecondary experiences are shaped by their financial circumstances, and many students are more fragile than many policymakers and members of the public likely realize.
These are the big takeaways from a new report from Trellis Strategies, which puts hard numbers to the how often students are forced to
juggle financial pressure, work obligations, and caregiving responsibilities while pursuing a degree or credential. These lived experiences, documented in the Fall 2024 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS), demand a more student-centered approach
to postsecondary support that acknowledges the circumstances of today’s students.
Trellis conducted the SFWS at 104 institutions across 27 states, and this year’s SFWS gathered responses from over 53,000 undergraduates. Trellis acknowledges that “it is not strictly representative of the entire nation” and that “it should be considered
a convenience sample – albeit an extremely large one.”
Financial Fragility Is Widespread, And It Impacts Students’ Learning
Students’ finances are shaky, with many just one emergency away from real hardship.
56% said they would have trouble coming up with $500 in cash or credit to cover an unexpected expense.
68% had already run out of money at least once in 2024.
71% had experienced financial challenges while in school.
48% of those who experienced financial hardship said it interfered with their ability to concentrate on schoolwork.
Students are cobbling together aid from an average of nearly three sources to cover college costs, but:
Only 5% can fully self-finance with income and savings.
34% took out student loans, and 55% of those have more debt than expected.
Just 37% feel their debt is manageable.
Public assistance and credit are common coping mechanisms:
15% received SNAP or other food assistance.
20% used Medicaid or CHIP.
57% used a credit card in 2024; 89% of those used it to pay for basics like food, housing, or transportation.
Basic Needs Insecurity Is a Barrier to Completion
More than half of students lack secure access to food, housing, or both.
58% of all respondents experienced at least one form of basic needs insecurity (i.e., food/housing insecurity or experiencing homelessness).
44% reported low or very low food security in the prior 30 days.
43% experienced housing insecurity.
14% were homeless at some point in the past year.
Certain groups face even higher risks:
83% of students with foster care experience experienced basic needs insecurity.
71% of Black students faced at least one form of basic needs insecurity.
The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) has previously made policy recommendations around creating and ensuring food and other basic needs security. Find more of our resources and reports on this topic at www.ncan.org.
Mental Health Struggles Persist
“Despite its critical role in persistence, completion, and attainment of credentials of value,” the report notes, “College students report poor mental health at alarming rates.” Many institutions have expanded access to support, but the problem, according
to this survey data remains widespread. For example:
33% of respondents showed symptoms of major depressive disorder.
44% showed signs of generalized anxiety disorder.
57% felt lonely sometimes or always.
27% were unaware that their campus had counseling or mental health services.
While many students help to pay for their college education through work, working too many hours while enrolled is associated with poorer completion outcomes, as noted in NCAN’s Common Measures and elsewhere. Despite that, students need to make ends meet, and employment is the norm, not the exception in the SFWS sample. Being employed often dominates students’ identities.
67% of respondents were working for pay while enrolled.
43% worked full-time (40+ hours/week), and 25% held more than one job.
36% described themselves primarily as “a worker who goes to school.”
Among full-time students who were employed, 74% worked at least 20 hours per week.
Nearly a Fifth of Students Are Also Caregivers
Students caring for others report frequent class absences and strong potential for stop-out.
19% were caregivers or legal guardians to children or other dependents.
24% of parenting students missed class due to lack of childcare.
34% said they would take fewer classes or drop out if they lost childcare.
27% said they’d be less likely to enroll in future semesters in that case.
Among student parents younger than 25, the risk resulting from a hypothetical loss of childcare was even more impactful. 40% of these respondents said they would need to drop classes or take fewer classes if they lost childcare, and 32% said they
would be less likely to enroll in future semesters.
Academic Disruption from Work and Caregiving Is Common
Caregiving and transportation issues, somewhat predictably given the way things work here in the real world, make academic consistency difficult for these survey respondents.
25% of working students missed class due to job conflicts.
15% of all respondents missed class sometimes due to lack of transportation.
Among students with cars, 19% said their vehicle was only somewhat or not at all reliable.
But Students Still See the Value in Postsecondary Education
Despite the challenges, and there are a lot of them documented by this valuable resource from Trellis Strategies, the overwhelming majority of surveyed undergraduates still believe in the promise of higher education. For example:
84% believe a degree will lead to a higher quality of life.
73% say college is a good investment in their financial future.
Students at two-year colleges were especially likely to feel positively about the value of college and to recommend their institution to others.
What Can NCAN Members Do?
The SFWS reminds us that success isn’t just about academic preparedness, it’s about meeting students where they are with practical supports that acknowledge, accept, and meet the complexity of their lives. Postsecondary leaders, policymakers, practitioners,
and advocates can respond by:
Connecting students to public benefits like SNAP and Medicaid.
Expanding emergency aid programs to help students weather short-term crises.
Rethinking course schedules to reduce conflicts with work and family obligations.
Promoting awareness of on-campus services, particularly mental health supports.
Designing work-based learning opportunities that align with students’ schedules and financial needs.
The modern learner is often not just a student, but a worker, a parent, and a provider. NCAN members have a critical role to play in shaping systems that support these learners - not in spite of their realities, but because of them.
The statistics above are likely disheartening but not surprising to NCAN members. We know the headwinds our students face navigating all kinds of obstacles to persistence and completion. Still, a survey this large, across so many institutions, carries
some weight in quantifying the prevalence of these circumstances. These figures are eye-opening, and important to amplify, in a period where investment in student supports is becoming tenuous.
Explore the full SFWS report and consider how your institution or organization can make data-informed changes to better serve today’s
students.
Can we connect you with other partners and groups interested in promoting, for example, basic needs security? Reach out to us at ncan@ncan.org.
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