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Trellis' Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) seeks to document the financial well-being of post-secondary students and provide institutions with a detailed profile of the financial issues their students face, some of which could potentially impact their success in college. This report details aggregated findings for the 89 colleges and universities across the country that participated in the fall 2022 implementation of the survey. [For "Student Financial Wellness Survey: Fall 2021 Semester Results. National Aggregate Report," see ED625724.]

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the application that postsecondary students complete to receive federal grants, work-study, and loans; as well as some state and institutional grants, and private financial aid. In 2019-2020, 17.7 million undergraduates filed a FAFSA and in 2021-2022, full-time equivalent students received an average of $15,330 in financial aid. While the percentage of undergraduate students filing the FAFSA has increased significantly in the past twenty years, it is estimated that over one-third of non-filers in the 2015-2016 school year would have qualified for the Federal Pell Grant. This brief examines data from 59,208 students at 104 higher education institutions that participated in Trellis' Fall 2021 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS). The report focuses on self-reported FAFSA completion and reasons for not completing the FAFSA. Research indicates a link between filing a FAFSA and within-year persistence, year-to-year persistence, and earning a degree within six years. Therefore, understanding students' FAFSA completion rate and reasons for non-submission can inform strategies to help students remain in school and graduate on time.

Youth formerly in foster care (YFFC) are more likely to report facing financial struggles while in college and may lack resources, marketable skills, and have limited networks/ support to rely on. These students may not have access to the same kind of family support as their peers. To address these challenges, this population relies more heavily on their institutions and government assistance. Additionally, while federal, state and institutional programs exist to provide aid to these students, many respondents in this sample were unaware of these supports. As a result, institutions must find ways to connect these students to the resources needed to ensure postsecondary success.

The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) provides a snapshot of student financial wellbeing during the fall of 2021. Over 700,000 students were surveyed from 104 schools in 25 states and 63,751 students responded. During this period Federal stimulus funding helped stabilize finances for many students, but many still struggled to make ends meet. This report is meant to amplify the lived experience of these students. Understanding these experiences will allow college administrators and policymakers to better serve students, enabling them to reach their academic potential. The Fall 2021 SFWS questionnaire went through a thorough reassessment. To reduce survey burden, many questions were removed and others rewritten based on feedback from students, school administrators, and various experts in collegiate finances. This resulted in an instrument that was easier for students to understand and quicker to complete. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) Paying for College; (2) Student Credit Card Use and Risky Borrowing; (3) Financial Decision-Making Factors and Financial Behaviors; (4) Student Financial Security; (5) Basic Needs Security; (6) Students Who Are Parents; and (7) Mental Health Challenges.

Postsecondary students face a myriad of complex financial decisions and tasks, such as financing their education, choosing a major with a return on investment, budgeting, and crafting repayment strategies for credit card and student loan debt(s). With respect to student loans, many borrowers feel "burdened by the repayment process" and express regret for having borrowed so much. Understanding students' utilization and attitudes when receiving assistance with financial decision-making can serve as a first step when evaluating on- and off-campus financial services. This brief examines data from 45,624 students at 104 higher education institutions that participated in Trellis' Fall 2021 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) with a focus on students' comfort discussing financial situations with others and students' monetary discussions with financial aid advisors. [For "Student Financial Wellness Survey: Fall 2021 Semester Results. National Aggregate Report," see ED625724.]

Many college students struggle to make ends meet while enrolled and sometimes must turn to a wide variety of safety net resources, including official government programs, borrowing from family, and selling belongings. This brief examines data from 63,751 undergraduate students who responded to Trellis' Fall 2021 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS), analyzing the use of various safety net resources.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has proved, maintaining student financial wellness is key to keeping students enrolled. The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) was administered a year and a half into the pandemic, during a time when vaccinations were allowing schools to return to in-person learning, but the pandemic was continuing to have a strong impact. The SFWS is a self-reported, online survey that documents the financial well-being and student success indicators of postsecondary students across the nation. The Fall 2021 SFWS included many questions from prior implementations as well as new questions on topics including emergency aid, food pantry awareness and use, mental health, and expectations of student loan forgiveness. This report details findings from the Fall 2021 implementation at 24 Texas community colleges.

As the COVID-19 pandemic is proving, maintaining student financial wellness is key to keeping students enrolled. The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) was open from October 2020 to November 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic crisis were prominent concerns for students as they navigated a mostly remote learning experience for a fall semester unlike any before. Respondents seemed eager to share their experiences, resulting in the highest response rate for the SFWS to date--9.7 percent. Trellis collected information about the entire population surveyed--i.e., gender, age, enrollment intensity--and used it to weigh the results, reflecting the total populations of the participating institutions. There may be lingering response biases based on characteristics uncaptured in the study, some of which may be meaningful when interpreting the results. Sixty-two institutions participated in the survey--46 two-year institutions, 12 public four-years, and 4 private four-years. While the SFWS is not nationally representative, the participating institutions represent a wide range of institutions from 13 different states. In partnership with participating institutions, web-based survey invitations were sent to 394,240 undergraduate students, of whom 37,936 responded. A detailed description of survey characteristics, comparison groups, tests for representativeness, methodology, and other research notes can be found in the appendices. [For the 2019 report, see ED610029.]

All Texans deserve access to affordable, high-quality learning opportunities that lead to credentials of value--postsecondary credentials that will unlock their potential, help them provide for their families, and pursue their dreams. Helping students understand the financial choices they will make before, during and after their postsecondary education and giving them the tools they need to achieve financial wellness is critical to students' long-term success. This report includes an overview of the financial challenges that today's students face, key takeaways from a 2019 survey about the student financial literacy and wellness programs currently underway in Texas, and practical information that Texas higher education institutions can use to launch or further develop their efforts. In addition, the report highlights the Texas OnCourse initiatives to develop accessible, professional development for higher education advisers on the financial issues and challenges that students face. The future competitiveness of Texas depends on how well the potential of the state's talent is unlocked. Texas colleges and universities are rethinking how they communicate with students about financial aid, investing in financial education and literacy programming for their students, and making critical changes to practices that impact students' finances. This report highlights Texas institutions and their inspiring work. This report can be used to innovate and advance creative solutions that will support the financial well-being of all Texas students.

Higher education leaders are looking for high impact ways to improve retention and graduation rates in a climate of austere budgets. Increasingly, higher education sees the interplay of finances and academic performance as a key driver of student success. Across the nation, measurable improvements in student success outcomes are observed when students receive a combination of support services and financial resources that help address the unique financial challenges facing many college students. More colleges and universities want to better understand the state of financial wellness for their students to inform strategic planning and to pin a baseline for comparisons after implementing initiatives. Trellis' Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) informs discussions about college affordability, student debt, and financial wellness at the campus level and among policy-makers. This report details findings from more than 38,000 undergraduate student respondents from 78 colleges and universities in 20 states. While not nationally representative, student respondents attended public universities, private colleges, and community colleges that range in size from fewer than 700 students to greater than 55,000 students. This report presents results for 2-year and 4-year institutions (private and public institutions combined) separately. Respondents from public 2-year institutions accounted for a disproportionate amount of the total sample, and these students experience significant differences in financial wellness. The appendices of this report contain response frequencies to every question in the survey (broken out by school sector), select findings from cross-tabulations of survey responses, descriptions of sample characteristics and representativeness, and detailed methodology. [For the 2018 report, see ED601250.]

In January 2017, Trellis launched the Financial Security Study (FSS) to shed light on a broad set of questions related to students' basic needs and academic experiences. Working with 11 institutions in Texas and Florida from late January to October of 2017, researchers interviewed 72 students every 30 days or so to discuss their recent experiences with academics, finances, work, meeting basic needs, and anything else identified as significant in their lives. This brief contains key findings and take-aways from these discussions as they relate to the intersection of students' financial stability and food security over time.

To provide greater understanding, Trellis Research recently conducted a mixed-methods, outcomes-based study of parent PLUS borrowers in Texas. The study, "PLUS Borrowing in Texas: Repayment Expectations, Experience, and Hindsight by Minority-Serving Institution Status," provides a rare look into the repayment behavior of Parent PLUS borrowers of both MSI [minority serving institutions] and non-MSI students, shedding light on the borrowers' goals and financial trade-offs concerning saving, major purchases, and retirement. The study also focuses on both the level of knowledge they possess about the PLUS loan and the differences between their initial expectations and the actual amount of the debt.

Recent research suggests that the combination of high and rising college prices, stagnant family incomes, and increased enrollment of lower-income students leaves many college students struggling to meet their basic needs, including adequate, regular nutrition. This report explores the lived experiences of students with low food security, how students cope with its challenges, and how these strategies influence academic performance. Students in our study demonstrated commitment to their education through pronounced levels of sacrifice. They were more likely to approach their education aspirations once their basic needs were met.

Higher education leaders are looking for high impact ways to improve retention and graduation rates in a climate of austere budgets. Increasingly, higher education sees the interplay of finances and academic performance as a key driver of student success. Across the nation, measurable improvements in student success outcomes are observed when students receive a combination of support services and financial resources that help address the unique financial challenges facing many college students. More colleges and universities want to better understand the state of financial wellness for their students to inform strategic planning and to pin a baseline for comparisons after implementing initiatives. Trellis' Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) informs discussions about college affordability, student debt, and financial wellness at the campus level and among policymakers. This report details findings from more than 17,500 undergraduate student respondents from 58 colleges and universities in 12 states. Student respondents attended public universities, private colleges, and community colleges that range in size from fewer than 500 students to greater than 55,000 students. Appendices are included in this report that contain response frequencies to every question in the survey, select findings from cross-tabulations of survey responses, descriptions of sample characteristics and representativeness, and detailed methodology.

In January 2017, Trellis launched a nine-month study aimed at better understanding the non-academic challenges that postsecondary students face and the ways they try to meet their basic needs while pursuing academic goals. Working with 11 institutions in Texas and Florida, researchers recruited a cohort of 72 current undergraduate students. Though not representative of college students nationally, this cohort was highly diverse. More than half did not have a parent with a postsecondary credential, and over 20 percent were at least 28 years old. Hispanic students made up 39 percent, white students 31 percent, and African-American students 19 percent. About two-thirds of this group were pursuing associate degrees at public two-year (community) colleges, and about two-thirds had started college between one and three semesters ago. This report shares a few significant highlights of the postsecondary student interview study.

The rising cost of attending college creates a financial challenge for most students, many of whom must take out student loans to pursue their education goals. Whether or not they earn a degree, these students will leave school with the burden of managing student debt. How well they manage this complex process may shape their personal finances for decades to come. The perceptions of college financial aid administrators as they engage with students tackling the debt dilemma are at the heart of this report. Based on a national survey of 916 student aid professionals, this report also examines how schools deliver the required counseling that accompanies federal student loans. Trellis collaborated with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board of Governors) on the first in-depth survey of financial aid administrators' experience with student loan counseling.