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Student Financial Wellness Survey
What is the Student Financial Wellness Survey?
An annual survey of college students conducted by nonprofit Trellis Strategies to help institutions empirically understand the scope, depth, and character of financial wellness issues among their students.
A survey that has been administered on 263 campuses in 34 states to more than 3.1 million students.
A free service which results in a report and one-page infographic for executives, virtual presentations by Trellis experts, and access to campus-specific ad hoc reports.
All students who submit a survey will be automatically entered in a random drawing for an opportunity to win:
MSU Denver-only drawing: 40 chances to win a $25 gift card
FAQ
- Ground student success initiatives in campus-specific empirical evidence. The SFWS informs efforts such as financial education programming, emergency aid administration, and resource referrals to public assistance programs, food pantries, student wellness officials.
- Guide campus strategic planning. Results from the SFWS are being used by leading institutions to drive institutional change, strengthen student enrollment efforts, and improve student satisfaction.
- Benchmark against peer colleges. The SFWS allows schools to benchmark key student financial wellness indicators with peer institutions, helping the school to identify programmatic gaps and highlight institutional strengths.
- All participating institutions receive a school-level report of findings with comparison groups from their school sector.
- One-page infographic containing highlights of the school report.
- Detailed methodology and tests for representation.
- Access to Trellis experts for virtual campus-specific presentations and ad hoc reporting.
Search your university-affiliated email for a message from Trellis.
Subject “Financial Wellness Survey from Trellis and Metropolitan State University of Denver”
Email sent on October 22, 2024
You may not have been selected to take the assessment, only declared, degree-seeking students were sent the link.
- Trellis will use the SFWS data to produce campus-specific reports for participating institutions.
- Trellis will produce research reports on the aggregated data set to inform higher education leaders and policymakers on the financial issues facing college students today.
- Trellis will only share institution-level summaries with other organizations with the written consent of the school.
- At no point will Trellis share any student level data with any organization or person.
- Data security and student privacy is of the utmost importance to Trellis. This project uses procedures and protocols to safeguard student anonymity and confidentiality.
No more than 10 minutes
The assessment will close on November 12.
Planning
- Better understand the connection between their students’ finances and academic success.
- Develop baseline metrics to measure the effectiveness of campus resources and interventions.
- Implement staff/faculty training on the financial realities of their student body.
- Provide intentional programs and discussions on campus related to reducing some supplemental costs of education.
Financial education
- Provide students with support to financially plan for their degree.
- Get students enrolled in safe, financial services products (such as bank accounts).
- Evaluate the environmental factors that support healthy financial decision making, including campus policies and procedures related to student payments, collections, and debt products on or near campus.
- Evaluate messaging to students around college affordability, interventions, and campus resources.
- Inform topic areas and instructional design for student loan counseling and financial education interventions.
Financial resources
- Establish a resource center network that contains resources such as food pantries, clothes closets, counseling, temporary housing, case management, financial literacy, and access to emergency loans.
- Create student financial crisis intervention teams on campus, similar to successful mental health crisis team models.
- Implement emergency aid programs to support students that face an unexpected financial emergency and are considering withdrawing from college.
- Target scarce resources to address the populations of students facing substantial financial difficulties.
Fundraising and community engagement
- Demonstrate student and institutional need when fundraising or advocating for resources.
- Engage in the process of working with their community to develop partnerships and develop resources.
Yes.
If you have questions or comments about the survey, please contact Angie Moreno.