Thursday, September 10, 2015
William T. Grant-Funded Study Explores Effect of Financial Distress on Academically Prepared Minority Students
A new study of more than 500 Black and Latino college students has confirmed that many encounter obstacles after enrolling in college without adequate financial resources.
“Students were surveyed in the fall, winter and spring of freshman year,” said Micere Keels, associate professor in comparative human development, who led the study. “At each time-point, approximately 35 percent reported having difficulty paying their bills, being upset that they did not have enough money and being concerned that they would not be able to afford to complete their degree.”
The report is the first of a series that will be released from the Minority College Cohort Study, for which Keels is the principal investigator. The study tracks the emerging adult trajectory of Black and Latino college freshmen from five public and private universities in Illinois.
Students who started college with a high level of financial distress fell into one of three groups. The first group is students who enrolled knowing there was an unmet need that would have to be paid for out of pocket, but hoped that somehow they could find a way to pay it before a hold was placed on their account....