The Link Between Financial Stress, Financial Precarity, and Educational Outcomes at Community Colleges

Abstract

ABSTRACT In a time of increasing economic inequality, lower levels of government investment in higher education, and rising tuition costs, students vying for a college degree experience financial concerns as important influences on their college experience. An emerging body of literature has focused on the relationship between student finances and academic outcomes. This study sought to understand how community college student financial situations are linked to academic outcomes. Specifically, we examined whether financial stress and financial precarity are associated with students’ academic outcomes at 2-year institutions. Prior community college research on this topic has generally been limited to single institution studies. This study extends current research by using a multi-institutional dataset of 21 community colleges and accounting for multiple financial factors in our statistical models to describe community college students’ financial situations and knowledge in a nuanced manner. Financial stress and financial precarity emerged as significant predictors of several academic outcomes. Financial stress explained more variance in academic outcomes than several other financial and demographic variables in the models, including financial knowledge. We discuss the importance of developing research that is more nuanced in its approach to financial influences on community college student trajectories toward a degree.