Attending college can be exciting but also scary, especially when you consider that most students aren't taught much about personal finance. Students’ fears are only intensified this year by the fact that the coronavirus pandemic may impact their ability to attend college – both in terms of social distancing and being able to afford tuition.
In order to learn more about college students’ preparedness and how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their school plans, WalletHub conducted a nationally representative survey. We asked about everything from whether students have missed any bill payments since the pandemic began to whether they would rather risk COVID-19 on campus or stay home. You can find the complete results in the infographic below.
Key Stats
- 30% of students have missed a bill payment since the pandemic began.
- COVID-19 has changed almost 56% of students' plans for summer jobs.
- 35% of students would rather risk COVID-19 on campus than self-isolate at their parents’ house.
- Having emergency savings (52%) is the most important financial lesson students have learned from the pandemic, followed by having a steady job (20%) and not going into debt (14%).
Survey Methodology
This report reflects the results of a nationally representative online survey of over 200 respondents.
After all responses were collected, we normalized the data by age, gender and income so the sample would reflect U.S. demographics.
Full Details Overall
| After COVID-19, do you think credit scores will be as important? | |
|---|---|
| Same importance | 41% |
| More important | 36% |
| Less important | 23% |
| After COVID-19, how will your spending on non-essential items compare vs pre-COVID-19? | |
| I will spend less | 43% |
| No change | 34% |
| I will spend more | 23% |
| After COVID-19, how important do you think credit cards will be? | |
| More important | 42% |
| Same importance | 42% |
| Less important | 16% |
| Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your opinion on the importance of college education? | |
| Same importance | 52% |
| More important | 29% |
| Less important | 19% |
| Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your opinion on the importance of steady employment? | |
| More important | 70% |
| Same importance | 19% |
| Less important | 11% |
| Would you rather go to school on campus and risk COVID-19 or self-isolate at your parents’ house? | |
| Stay at parents’ house | 65% |
| Risk it on campus | 35% |
| Do you think the coronavirus will make it harder for students to get approved for credit cards? | |
| Yes | 55% |
| No | 45% |
| Has COVID-19 changed your plans for getting a summer job? | |
| Yes | 56% |
| No | 44% |
| Have you missed any bill payments since the coronavirus pandemic began? | |
| No | 70% |
| Yes | 30% |
| What is the most important financial lesson you’ve learned during the coronavirus pandemic? | |
| Have emergency savings | 52% |
| Have a steady job | 20% |
| Don’t go into debt | 14% |
| Stockpile supplies | 9% |
| Don’t live in a city | 5% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.