November 20, 2012

NSSE Survey Finds Students’ Finances Affect Their Studies

As a means of both acknowledging and analyzing the recession’s impact on students, this year’s National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) included a new set of questions asking how students’ finances affect their stress and academic activities. Approximately 15,000 first-year and senior students from “a diverse group of 43 institutions” responded to the new addendum.  The results, which were released last week, indicate that “finances were a significant concern for the majority of students.” 

As seen in Table 5 from the official report:

• The majority of students frequently worried about paying for college and regular expenses.
• Roughly 1 in 3 students said financial concerns interfered with their academic performance.
• About 30 percent said they frequently chose not to buy required academic materials due to cost.
• More students looked into working more hours than into borrowing more money as a way to cover costs.
• Approximately 3 in 4 students still agreed that college is a good investment.

In addition to these findings, the study found that over 55 percent of full-time seniors said that their choice of major was influenced by factors such as ability to find a job and/or the prospect of career advancement.  Yet, 89 percent of students overall said the most influential factor in choosing a major was still how well it fit with their talents and academic interests.