Most faculty and staff only get to see the academic and admissions side of students. They often don’t get to see the other side of students that define them – family life, income or the lack thereof, food security or insecurity. From a fall 2019 Financial Wellness Survey by Trellis Research, here are some eye-opening statistics of some of the challenges NVC students are facing.
Trellis surveyed 747 students last fall and the survey was published on Feb. 21:
- 63% of students worry about having enough money.
- 49% of students have run out of money 3 or more times in the past year.
- 26% of students show signs of very low food security according to the USDA scale (skipping meals, eating less or less nutritious food).
- 55% of students say they would have trouble getting $500 in cash or credit to meet an unexpected need within the next month.
- 42% of students show signs of housing insecurity (struggling to pay rent/utilities or the need to move frequently).
- 49% of students indicate that it is important to them to support their family financially while in school.
- 69% of students are than confident they will be able to pay off the debt they acquired while in school.
- 56% of students pay for college using money from their current employment.
- 29% find their total debt amount to be overwhelming.
- 22% of students pay for college with credit cards.
- 72% of students would use financial support services if offered by the school.
To learn about the many ways, NVC is trying to help students with food insecurity and emergency financial grants, read this story.
