The IU Financial Wellness Survey was administered in the fall semester of 2019 to a sample of degree‐seeking undergraduate students across the IU system. The goal of the survey was to obtain specific, actionable information about the relative financial health and challengesfaced by IU students. The overall response rate for IUPU‐Columbus (IUPUC) was 28.0% (354 respondents out of 1,263 students sampled).
The survey asked students a variety of questions about financial well‐being, their ability to pay for school, student employment, attitudes toward debt, and help‐seeking behavior. The following summary provides a brief overview of the results within a subset of the survey topics. Aggregate results for all survey questions are available through a set of interactive online dashboards. These dashboards also provide links to the full questionnaire and the survey methodology.
Dashboards are available at https://uirr.iu.edu/facts-figures/Internal%20Surveys/index.html.
University Institutional Research and Reporting
February 2020
FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY
Overall University Student Financial Wellness
While undergraduate student borrowing has decreased by 28% (‐113.1 million) between FY2012‐13 and FY2018‐19, there is still concern that many of our students are facing daily financial challenges that could affect whether or not they complete their degree.1 Data collected through the IU Financial Wellness Survey helps to create a narrative of the difficulties faced by students and possible University programming and resources that might alleviate those burdens.
One question that lends itself to being a gauge of overall financial well‐being deals with the ability to obtain $500 for an unexpected need over the next month. While nearly half of the student population at IUPUC said they would have trouble getting money, some groups seemed more vulnerable. Of particular note was the proportion of female students (53%) who said that they would have trouble getting money. This was 16 percentage points higher than the proportion of male students. While not as stark of a difference, the proportion of first‐generation students (52%) was also over 8 percentage points higher than non‐first‐generation students.
The propensity to borrow from others is also likely an indicator that a student may not have the resources to meet their short‐term needs. Over half of the students said that they borrowed from family or friends at some point in the 12 month period prior to the survey. Of those who did borrow, students who borrowed five or more times made up the largest portion of the response (15%). Nearly a third of female students (32%) said that they borrowed three or more times. In contrast, male students responded over 8 percentage points less at this frequency of borrowing. The proportion of freshmen who have borrowed money (53%) is higher than any other class level. Likewise, freshmen responded nearly 10 percentage points higher that they borrowed five or more times. This pattern in borrowing in female and younger students indicates a reliance on others for financial support over an extended period. Additionally, although minority students borrowed less frequently, the proportion who said they have borrowed in the past year (63%) was 10 percentage points higher than non‐minority students, which could indicate a higher incidence of acute financial hardship.
When asked general questions about food insecurity, 1 in 5 students replied that they have been hungry at some point in the past 30 days and unable to eat because they did not have money for food. Likewise, over a quarter of students said that they have eaten less than they should due of food scarcity. When broken down by class level, the response by freshmen (37%) were over 10 percentage points higher than seniors, who were the next closest group at 28%. This stark difference might be related to a lack of job opportunities, especially for younger students with little or no work experience.
Food, Transportation, and Housing Insecurity
Food Insecurity
Nearly a third of students (30%) conveyed that they were hungry in the last thirty days and unable to eat because they did not have money for food. When probed further to get a sense of the pervasiveness of food insecurity, 42% of all students expressed that it was at least sometimes true that they ran out of food and did not have money to buy more. International students, Asian American students, students from two or more races, and African American students all expressed this sentiment at a higher proportion than the overall student population (60%, 54%, 51%, and 50%, respectively). Notwithstanding the expressed need for additional sustenance, less than a tenth of students reported using public food assistance or food pantries in the past 12 months.
Transportation Insecurity
Transportation insecurity is less of an issue at IUPUC. Nearly all students have access to a car (98%) and the large majority of those individuals indicated that their vehicle was either reliable or very reliable (83%). Additionally, when asked about commute time, 80% of students said that they spend 6 hours or less getting to and from campus every week. Minority students are more likely to spend more time commuting with 18% saying that they spend more than 6 hours per week traveling to and from campus compared to 13% non‐minority response within the same level of response.
1Kennedy, J., Schmitz, T., & Stephens, J. (2019). Indiana University Financial Aid Annual Report, 2018-19. Retrieved from https://uirr.iu.edu/doc/cas/IU%20Annual%20FA%20report%202018-19%20Final%2001_23_20.pdf
Housing Insecurity
When asked about students’ housing situations, 40% said that they pay at least a portion of their rent or mortgage. Additionally over a quarter (27%) said that they live with someone else and are not responsible for housing payments. Of students who did have responsibility for a housing payment, a higher proportion of freshmen (58%) said that they have had difficulty paying at some point over the past 12 months when compared to the proportion within other class levels, all of which were less than 46%. Female and minority students were also nearly 20 percentage points more likely to say that they have had difficulty paying when compared to their respective counterparts. The same was true for full‐ time students over part‐time students by 10 percentage points.
Attitudes towards Borrowing
Most college students take on some level of debt to cover their cost of attendance. Borrowing to cover college costs is a function of willingness to take on debt, perceived value of education, and confidence in a students’ ability to repay the debt after graduation. Two‐thirds of the students at IUPUC agreed or strongly agreed that it was okay to borrow to pay for education, and only 15% expressed negative sentiments. Response breakdowns were similar within demographic groups. This same sentiment was evident when students were asked about borrowing money more generally. When provided the prompt, “There is no excuse for borrowing money,” the overall population skewed toward disagreement (66.7%) with only 9% agreeing. On the other hand, minorities and female students were more likely to agree (20% and 14%, respectively). The same was true for students under the age of 20 (17%).
Use of Credit
Over half (55%) of the students had used a credit card in the past twelve months, and most said they were responsible for paying their own credit card bills (93%). Just under half of the student population said that they typically pay off their credit card balance each month. In terms of other risky borrowing habits, less than 5% of students reported using pay day loans and nearly 15% reported using an auto title loan. Demographic breakdowns within these types of loans were fairly similar.
Paying for College
The majority of students (68%) agreed or strongly agreed that they have more student loan debt than they expected to have at this point in their academic career. While it’s likely no surprise that level of agreement increased with class level from 43% in freshmen to 85% in seniors, it should be noted that the proportion of respondents who answered “neither agree nor disagree” decreased substantially (26% in freshmen to 4% in seniors). This likely indicates that incoming students have only a vague idea of how much loan debt they should expect to accumulate. The proportion of minority students and first‐ generation students who agree (88% and 78%, respectively) was substantially higher than their non‐ minority and non‐first‐generation peers (65% and 63%, respectively). Notwithstanding the difference in borrowing expectations, these two groups were similar to the overall population with regard to optimism about paying off student loan debt. When given the prompt, “I’m confident that I will be able to pay off my student loan debt after I graduate,” they were in line with the overall population proportion of 63% agreement. On the other hand, part‐time students were less optimistic with only half of the students expressing agreement.
Hours Worked
Nearly 90% of students said that they were working for pay at the time the survey was in the field and a third said they worked full‐time (>30 hours). While it is not surprising that a greater proportion of part‐ time students said that they work more often, it should be noted that nearly a third said that they were working more than 40 hours per week. Female students and minorities were both slightly more likely to say that they were not working for pay (12% and 18%, respectively) when compared to their male and non‐minority peers (8% and 10%). However, at 34%, the proportion of minorities who were working full‐ time was higher than the overall population proportions.
Although many students were working at the time of the survey, students did not seem concerned that work was interfering with academic studies. When asked how often work gets in the way, most students said sometimes (43.1%) as opposed to often or always. However, a larger proportion of part‐time students did provide those responses (37%) when compared to the overall population (31.4%). This is not surprising given that they also indicated working more hours per week.
Help-Seeking Behavior
As students work to address their financial challenges, it is important to assess their awareness and use of resources aimed at alleviating financial stress. Over two‐thirds of students agree that IUPUC has support services that are relevant to their financial situation. Students were generally less likely to agree with increasing class levels going from 81% agreement in freshmen to 54% in seniors. However, it is important to note that freshmen were also more likely to borrow from friends or family than students in other class levels, which might indicate less of a need to seek out campus support. In the overall population, only 24% said they use campus‐related financial support and distributions were not remarkably different between class levels. Females, first‐generation students, and minorities were more likely to say they use them (27%, 27%, and 33%, respectively). On the other hand, the proportion of part‐time students who said they use them (14%) was substantially less, perhaps because they are unaware or because their outside responsibilities create less opportunity. When asked which campus officials students have spoken to about their financial challenges, the top 3 responses were similar to other campuses: academic advisors (59%), financial aid advisors (50%), and faculty (41%).
Summary and Recommendations
From a retention standpoint, it is vital to understand why younger students are borrowing from friends and family more often. Since the chance of attrition decreases as students get closer to graduation, it is important to make sure that younger students are willing to utilize campus support services should they need them. Likewise, steps should be taken to proactively educate those students about expectations surrounding student loan debt accumulation so they can take steps to decrease borrowing earlier in their academic career.
Additionally, initiatives for improving student financial well‐being should be targeted to include the vulnerable populations mentioned here: female students, minorities, and part‐time students. In the case of part‐time students, who are on campus less often, those initiatives should include online communications, sent at different points throughout the day, to make sure they are received by students who have outside responsibilities that disallow them from checking their email during normal business hours.