Improve Institutional Support to Reduce Students’ Financial Stress

74%

of students cannot afford common “extras,” such as unpaid internships

Colleges and universities historically have paid full or near-full tuition and board for academically successful students from low-income backgrounds. However, in recent years, financial insecurity has increasingly taken on new forms, from basic needs to affording the college experience. Financial stress in college students has increased as more and more students struggle to pay their tuition, with an average unmet need of nearly $10,000 regardless of income level.

As economic inequality continues to grow, campus leaders know they must do more to support students. Use this executive briefing to inform campus leadership about the financial hardship students face and identify solutions to expand existing support, create new programming, and find alternative funding sources to scale programming.

First, audit campus services for financially insecure students

Financial insecurity resources are often developed ad-hoc across multiple departments, leaving students and administrators without a clear idea of what students can access. EAB recommends institutions conduct a thorough audit of services that support students’ financial security (e.g., grants, food pantry, scholarships) as the first step in scaling services. An audit helps identify duplicative services and gaps in offerings based on your unique student body’s needs.

What can an audit reveal?

Gaps in staff knowledge

Staff are unaware of service gaps because they don’t know what is and is not offered.

Lack of student awareness

Valuable financial supports go underutilized because students do not know about them.

Duplicative services

Multiple departments offer the same affordability resources, causing redundancy in service.

Centralize resources to make it easy for students to get help

Many factors prevent financially insecure students from finding and accessing needed support: lack of knowledge of resources, stigma, eligibility concerns, tyranny of the immediate, and more. Institutions can better serve financially-insecure students by deliberately building awareness of resources, rather than relying on word-of-mouth education, and by making it easier for students to connect with services. Progressive institutions are shifting the burden of help-seeking away from students by centralizing services and programming.

Partner with vendors and institutional advancement to fund programs

One-off donations and federal grants do not provide the flexibility or sustainability to scale services for students experiencing financial stress. Work with vendors and institutional advancement to find new funding for programs. Vendors are motivated to maintain their contracts and see supporting students as part of their corporate values. Similarly, affordability efforts are a natural fit for partnerships with institutional advancement as donors increasingly seek cause-based giving opportunities. Increasingly, corporate partners are developing initiatives to address financial insecurity, such as scholarship and meal donation programs.