The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) is a self-reported, online survey that documents the
financial wellbeing and success indicators of postsecondary students across the nation. The SFWS
was designed and implemented by Trellis Strategies, starting in 2018. Since then, 3.1 million
students have been surveyed at 263 institutions in 34 states.
Basic needs security includes access to stable housing, healthy food, affordable childcare, reliable transportation, mental and physical health services, technology and internet, and other survival necessities. Meeting college students’ basic needs is essential to their well-being and ability to succeed in college. A key first step is assessing students’ basic needs security. The #RealCollege Survey was the nation’s first multi-institutional assessment of basic needs security among college students. When it was created in 2015, neither the federal government nor any state captured information on the topic. The goal of the survey is to equip colleges with the information needed to support their students holistically. It has been administered at more than 700 colleges and in many cases statewide. Numerous examples of reports using data from the survey are available in the #RealCollege Resource Library. The #RealCollege Survey has inspired the federal government, many states, and countless other researchers to examine and collect data on students’ basic needs. We are now making it freely available for use by postsecondary institutions, their partners, and states to understand students’ needs for support and the challenges they face in accessing help. This guide is intended to support administration, analysis, and dissemination of findings from the #RealCollege Survey. It provides key considerations for fielding the survey, including selecting participants, selecting the questions and modules to use, maximizing participation, minimizing bias, analyzing the data, and disseminating findings. An accompanying appendix lists the survey questions. Please acknowledge any use of this guide and/or questions in your reporting
Public trust and civic predisposition are cornerstones of well-functioning democratic societies, and burdensome citizen-state encounters may undermine positive views of government, especially for racially minoritized clientele. Leveraging insights from policy feedback theory, we argue that administrative burden has the potential to undermine trust in government and civic predisposition through two mechanisms: 1) interpretive effects: burdensome experiences that induce negative emotional responses and 2) resource effects: experiences of losing access to public benefits. In our OLS regression analysis of survey data from applicants for a means-tested public benefit program in the U.S. (n=2,250), we find that clients who lost access to benefits were significantly less likely to trust government, and these findings were driven by racially minoritized clients rather than White clients. Our findings demonstrate that experiences of administrative burden that result in the loss of public benefits may result in racialized policy feedback, by disproportionately reducing trust in government and civic predisposition for racially minoritized clientele.
Nashville, TN – December 19, 2023 – The Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) today released a comprehensive report addressing the critical issue of food insecurity among students at public institutions of higher education. This report sheds light on the challenges faced by students and presents key interventions to address this pressing concern.
Food insecurity (FI) is a pressing concern among university students in the United States, and the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this issue. Providing food assistance for university students has become more challenging due to pandemic-related consequences and interventions. This study aims to (1) analyze social inequalities in FI among university students in a large public university during the pandemic, (2) investigate the association of their utilization of campus, community, and federal food assistance programs (FAPs) and FI, and (3) understand the barriers students face in accessing FAPs. Survey questionnaires were distributed to students to gather their socio-demographics, FI, and usage of FAPs. Logistic regression was utilized to assess the relationship between students’ FI and their use of FAPs. Among the surveyed students (n = 282), 33.7% reported experiencing FI. Higher FI rates were observed among socially vulnerable student groups, for example, non-Hispanic Black (62.5%) and Hispanic students (38.7%), compared with non-Hispanic White students (32.1%). FAPs had a limited influence on students’ FI due to low utilization. The primary barriers to FAPs were insufficient information, ineligibility, and social stigma. The findings suggest it is crucial to reduce barriers to using FAPs and develop targeted interventions for marginalized students to address inequalities in FI.
Food insecurity (FI) is an ongoing concern on college campuses across the U.S. Food insecurity is defined by the United Stated Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service as a lack of access to enough food for an active and healthy life (USDA ERS, 2022). This report summarizes findings from the second formal study of the prevalence and patterns of FI among OSU students on the Corvallis campus, conducted in Spring 2022. FI was measured using the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 10-item Food Security Survey Module (FSSM) with a 2-item food sufficiency screener (as shown in Appendix A). Two sampling strategies were employed in an effort to improve upon existing sampling methods commonly used for estimating FI among college students. These findings can be used to inform OSU’s plan to ensure equitable food access among all students.
This report describes the first study to invite all matriculated students from every Rutgers Chancellor-led Unit (Unit) to participate in a survey on basic needs insecurities. It is also the first study to measure Rutgers students’ basic needs insecurities beyond food and housing.
Methods:
· The survey was conducted online from November 15 to December 14, 2022.
· A total of 7,094 students responded, for a 10.7% response rate. Response rate by Unit ranged from 8.6% to 13.5%.
· The respondents were generally representative of the Rutgers student body.
Top line Results:
· University wide, almost 1 in 3 undergraduates (31.2%) and 1 in 4 graduate students (26.5%) reported experiencing food insecurity in the past 30 days.
· Graduate students were more likely than undergraduates to report having been housing insecure over the past 12 months, 46.7% vs. 31.0%, respectively.
· Homelessness was the least frequent basic need insecurity, as 7.6% of undergraduates and 8.2% of graduate students reported experiencing homelessness in the past 12 months.
· Many students reported having difficulty affording other needs that can affect their well-being and education. Some of the most pervasive needs were difficulty affording technology (42.8% of undergraduates and 47.2% of graduate students), books (43.8% of undergraduates and 40.1% of graduate students), and mental healthcare (35.8% of undergraduates and 41.6% of graduate students).
· As expected, given the different student populations of each Unit and degree level, there were disparities in the rates of basic needs insecurities across Units and degree level.
Recommendations:
· Continue to support innovative efforts to meet students’ basic needs and share best practices across Units.
· Tailor programming and policies to Unit-level student profiles and needs rather than adopt a one-size fits all, universitywide approach.
· Streamline service delivery whenever possible. Benefit hubs such as basic needs centers help connect students with Unit-based and community-based services and programs across multiple types of needs. Units should consider adopting a benefit hub model that is tailored to the needs of their students.
In May 2023, the California Student Aid Commission (Commission) administered our inaugural Food and Housing Survey, as a supplement to the triannual Student Expenses and Resources Survey (SEARS). This survey asked students about their experiences paying for food and housing during the 2022-23 academic year.
Having valid measures of college student FI is essential for justifying basic-needs services for students. But college student food insecurity (FI) rates vary significantly across institutions, perhaps partially due to differences in non-response bias resulting from participant recruitment strategies. We tested for effects of recruitment method on measured levels of college student FI at three time points (2020, 2021, 2022). Survey response rates varied dramatically across recruitment modalities. Higher FI rates were estimated in low-response-rate survey deliveries. Emailed surveys appear to inflate estimates of student FI. Efforts to increase response rates likely produce more valid estimates of college student FI.