To gain a better understanding of how college students are coping during these unprecedented times with rising inflation and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how the situation is affecting students’ personal finances, WalletHub conducted a nationally representative survey of current college students. We asked them about everything from how their opinion of their financial future has changed due to the pandemic to how they would grade their personal finances. You can find the complete results in the infographic below.
Key Stats
- Roughly 8 in 10 students say their financial literacy improved due to the pandemic.
- 68% of students say it’s worth going into debt for a college education.
- More than 1 in 4 students say they are not feeling prepared to be on their own financially.
- 43% of students say the economy is holding them back the most financially, followed by socioeconomic status (19%), financial literacy (15%), career choice (12%) and education level (11%).
- 86% of students say the pandemic made them more concerned about their financial future.
- 37% of college students get help from their parents with their credit card bills.
Survey Methodology
This report reflects the results of a nationally representative online survey of nearly 250 respondents.
After we collected all responses, we normalized the data by gender and income so the sample would reflect U.S. demographics.
Full Details Overall
| Is it worth going into debt for a college education? | |
|---|---|
| Yes | 68% |
| No | 32% |
| Do your parents help pay your credit card bills? | |
| No | 63% |
| Yes | 37% |
| What grade would you give your personal finance? | |
| B | 36% |
| A | 30% |
| C | 26% |
| D | 7% |
| F | 1% |
| Do you consider yourself a spender or a saver? | |
| Saver | 67% |
| Spender | 33% |
| Has your financial literacy improved or gotten worse due to the pandemic? | |
| Improved | 79% |
| Gotten worse | 21% |
| What grade would you give your parents’ personal finances? | |
| A | 34% |
| C | 27% |
| B | 22% |
| D | 9% |
| F | 8% |
| Has the pandemic made you more concerned about your financial future? | |
| Yes | 86% |
| No | 14% |
| Has the pandemic changed the way you feel about financial education in general? | |
| Yes, I think financial education is more important now | 62% |
| No, I feel the same way as before | 20% |
| Yes, I think financial education is less important now | 18% |
| Do you feel prepared to be on your own financially? | |
| Yes | 72% |
| No | 28% |
| What is holding you back more financially? | |
| Economy | 43% |
| Financial literacy | 19% |
| Socioeconomic status | 15% |
| Career choice | 12% |
| Education level | 11% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.