Scaling Support for Financially Insecure Students

With the rising cost of college, more and more students suffer from basic needs or other forms of financial insecurity. VPSAs and their teams should use the study to expand services for students facing financial hardship.

Student affairs leaders know scaling services to support more students and in new ways needs to be a campus priority. With the rising cost of college, more and more students suffer from basic needs or other forms of financial insecurity. These individuals include students from middle-income backgrounds, international students, and students with extenuating circumstances who might not look like they’re struggling on paper.

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This resource is part of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Initiatives in Higher Education Resource Center.

In this study, learn how student affairs leaders can expand services for students facing financial hardship by auditing existing financial security services, getting the word out about programming through marketing and awareness campaigns, easing the burden of help-seeking on students, and building sustainable funding streams for programming.

Section One

Audit existing financial security services to identify duplicative offerings and service gaps

Section Two

Build awareness of existing programming and ease the burden of help-seeking on students

Section Three

Explore alternative funding streams institutions can tap to ensure sustainable programming

Understand your evolving campus context

Universities often struggle to coordinate their efforts to support financially insecure students. Different offices, from the financial aid office and dining services to student clubs and academic departments create programs to address financial insecurity. These duplicative services consume valuable time and resources, while siloed supports create confusion about where students should seek help. Conducting an audit will allow your institution to evaluate and…