We often assume that students enter college with enough social and economic security to begin the time-honoured university experience of identity formation. This “post-materialist” perspective has led staff, administrators and faculty at US higher education institutions for the past two decades to emphasise initiatives that bolster feelings of belonging and self-expression to retain students.
However, the reality, particularly in a post-pandemic world, is that students take on substantial debt to cover housing, food and basic well-being needs as well as lab fees, textbooks and other class materials. Overwhelming evidence now suggests that students focus on the financial value of their education and obtaining a job amid rising costs of living and tuition. In particular, I see that as first-year students seek to acclimatise to a new collegiate environment, they are risk averse and seek to build meaningful relationships around a shared commitment to learning.
Here, I suggest that educators shift their thinking towards the cost-value of attending college and viewing a student’s academic journey as an arc of social and economic behaviours. Importantly, I am not suggesting that attending university is purely a financial transaction. Instead, the path towards a degree is driven by socio-economic decision-making that is supported by feelings of belonging, intellectual exploration and empowerment. Our goal as educators, therefore, is to build students’ resilience in a new economic climate through opportunities that maximise the value of their degree.
The cost-value of higher education
Rising tuition costs and student debt mean the US public are less likely to believe that obtaining a college degree is key to achieving financial success, according to Pew Research’s 2024 study “Is college worth it?” Around half of respondents said it was less important to obtain a four-year college degree today in order to get a well-paying job than it was 20 years ago. Moreover, nearly a quarter said the cost of obtaining a four-year degree was not worth it after calculating the cost of loans. While macroeconomic trends imply that having a college degree still leads to higher wages or base salaries after graduation, the prospect of taking on debt, especially at high interest rates, persists in degrading public perception of higher education in the US.
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Demographic data supports the assumption that students are carefully choosing to attend a university based on a financial calculus. Generation Z students focus on financial value, career readiness and individual experiences they can obtain at a specific university, found research. Generally speaking, they also tend to set their sights on their potential careers and are more cautious to take on additional debt for exploration in other areas of study.
Practical solutions for real change
In sum, students of today are more likely to prioritise the cost-value of a degree. They may have certain outcomes in mind in their college decision-making process – such as meeting people (including faculty), being part of a specific programme or achieving career goals – and are not necessarily inspired by the prospect of exploration. While identity formation and sense of belonging remain important for universities retaining students and ensuring they graduate in a timely fashion, students seem to be increasingly looking for meaningful relationships with staff, administrators and faculty as a way to reaffirm they made the right choice attending college.
1. Removing barriers
If more students are going to school to maximise the cost-value of their degree, universities need to open up opportunities for them to earn a living wage on campus. In the US, paid positions, internships and research assistantships often require grade point average thresholds (for example, over a 2.0 GPA) to apply. This can limit the pool of applicants and may also alienate students who are struggling to balance the cost of education and their academics. Partnering with departments and offices that are willing to remove GPA thresholds from student employment can reduce barriers to employment, alleviate financial pressures and foster meaningful relationships with staff.
2. Building opportunities around students’ majors
Focusing on generating meaningful relationships in a student’s major can have a real impact on first-year retention. Because students increasingly attend universities for specific reasons (for example, pursuing a career in their area of study), advisers and student success staff should build in opportunities for them to engage with their major. Ideally, this should not come at the expense of intellectual exploration, which is still a valuable component of a student’s growth. Rather, staff and faculty can think intentionally about how to expand a student’s horizon around their interests.
3. Social support and moral accountability
Many students begin their higher education journey in a fragile financial state, and thus might be risk averse when it comes to expanding their social network outside the general education requirements of their degree. To be sure, this safety-first mentality of first-year students is also driven by their particular place in the higher education ecosystem, and being away from traditional kinship networks. Acting from this position of social alienation and fragile financial existence, students tend to prioritise social support and academic engagement to mitigate uncertainty.
Educators can use the guiding principles of reciprocity and mutual obligation to generate what social scientists refer to as a “moral accountability” for students: a shared set of values, assumptions, responsibilities and expectations towards common goals in the university community. I define reciprocity as a shared commitment to learning, or put another way, if a student puts effort and energy into building a relationship, they then feel as if the connections they make are beneficial for themselves and the professors involved. Mutual obligation bolsters trust between peers and faculty.
All these practical solutions put student economic decision-making at the centre of the narrative. I believe that by reducing even a small portion of college costs, students can focus on their coursework rather than identifying other ways to fund their degree. This financial relief can therefore facilitate the process of identity development and sense of belonging that come from engaging with support systems across campus. Carving out opportunities and individualised experiences for students can help us build a retention strategy for this new chapter of higher education.
Richard Tomczak is the director of faculty engagement and the research director of the Student Success Through Applied Research (SSTAR) Lab in the division of undergraduate education at Stony Brook University.
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