3 in 5 College Students Say Inflation Has Impacted Their Mental Health: Survey

Inflation is on college students' minds, causing some to reconsider their majors.

In a new BestColleges survey of 1,000 current undergraduate and graduate students, two-thirds of students (66%) say inflation has had an impact on their financial well-being. Only 1 in 10 disagree.

Inflationary forces aren’t just impacting their financial health, however, as 3 in 5 students (60%) say inflation over the last three years has impacted their mental well-being, too. Just 14% disagree.

Those stresses caused many to reconsider their educational choices. Over half of students (53%) say inflation has impacted their educational decisions, such as their choice of major. Just under 1 in 5 (19%) say inflation has not impacted their education, and 28% are neutral.

While inflation has come down from a mid-2022 peak, year-over-year inflation is still above pre-COVID-19 levels. The California Legislative Analyst’s Office found that prices have grown by 18.7% since 2020, with people in the U.S. most likely to still see the impact of inflation on the price of services.

BestColleges’ survey found slight generational differences in how inflation affects millennial students ages 27-42 and Gen Z students ages 17-26.

Millennials are more likely than Gen Z to say that inflation impacted their financial well-being (70% vs. 65%), mental well-being (64% vs. 58%), and educational decisions (58% vs. 52%).

BestColleges’ survey also found that students view inflation slightly differently based on their major.

Students in a humanities program are more likely to say that inflation has impacted their financial well-being (70%) than students in a science, technology, engineering, or technology (STEM) program (62%) or a business program (65%).

Interestingly, humanities students are least likely among these three groups to say inflation has impacted their educational choices.

Just 52% of humanities students say inflation influenced educational decisions, compared to 56% of STEM students, and 56% of business majors.

Men and women surveyed were equally as likely to say inflation impacted their financial well-being. However, men are slightly more likely to say that inflation influenced their education decisions (56%) than women (51%).

Differences among racial and ethnic groups were more pronounced.

White students are most likely to say that inflation over the past few years has impacted their financial well-being, with 69% saying it has. Sixty-two percent of Black students, 65% of Hispanic and Latino/a students, and 59% of students of other races — including Asian, Native American/Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, and other identities — agree.

White students are also most likely to say inflation has impacted their mental well-being (63%). Hispanic and Latino/a students also agree with this sentiment at a high rate (61%). In comparison, 54% of Black students and 52% of students of other races say the same.

Finally, 63% of Hispanic and Latino/a students say that inflation over the last few years has impacted their educational decisions, such as their choice of major. That was well above the percentage of white students (52%), Black students (53%), and students of other races (47%) who say inflation has impacted educational decisions.

College Students Confused About Current State of Debt Forgiveness

Inflation isn’t the only thing college students are financially concerned about.

Many students also worry about the current state of federal student loan debt forgiveness. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan in June, which would have forgiven up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower, and many students are unaware of what’s next.

BestColleges found that students are almost evenly split on whether they feel like they know what's going on with student loan forgiveness on a national level. Approximately 39% say they understand, 31% don’t, and 31% are neutral.

Men are more likely than women to say they feel like they know what's going on with student loan forgiveness on a national level (48% vs. 30%).

First-generation students are also more likely to say that they feel like they know what's going on with student loan forgiveness on a national level (47%) than non-first-generation students (30%).

President Biden’s administration is currently developing a new student loan forgiveness plan through the process of negotiated rulemaking. The rulemaking process is lengthy and is expected to drag out into mid-2024 or later.

Many College Students Believe College Should be Free

Over 3 in 5 college students (61%) say college should be free.

Meanwhile, just 15% of students disagree, and 24% are neutral.

There is a slight generational difference in how students see this issue. Sixty-seven percent of millennial students say college should be free, while 59% of Gen Z students say the same.

Compared to students of other racial/ethnic groups, Hispanic and Latino/a students are most likely to say college should be free (71%). In comparison, 62% of Black students, 59% of white students, and 58% of students of other races say college should be free.

Methodology

This survey was conducted from Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 2023, and was fielded by Pure Spectrum. Survey participants included 1,000 respondents nationwide who were currently enrolled in an on-campus, online, or hybrid undergraduate or graduate degree program. Respondents were 17-49 years of age, with the majority (95%) ages 18-38, and currently pursuing an associate, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, or professional degree. The respondents for the survey were screened by various quality checks, including systems like Relevant ID, and responses were manually reviewed to ensure consistency and accuracy.

A note on gender: BestColleges also surveyed non-binary/gender-nonconforming students, but did not surface enough participants in this group to reliably report on their responses.