Gen Z has overtaken millennials on the college campus. According to a Chronicle of Higher Education publication1, among high school graduates between 18 and 21, fifty-seven percent were enrolled in college.
When it comes to Gen Z, most college administrators focus on things like how they like to communicate and what they hope to achieve while on campus.
However, there is something else you should know – Gen Z college students are financially stressed.
Gen Z and Financial Stress
A 2020 Heart Mind Strategy2 survey found that six out of ten Gen Zs reported high levels of financial stress. What do they worry about? Experian3 found that:
- Half believe money problems will keep them from accomplishing what they want in life
- Four out of ten believe that lack of money will affect their happiness
- One in four feels peer pressure over financial matters
- 36% believe they cannot achieve financial security
- 35% worry about poor spending habits
Thankfully, Gen Z wants to learn about their finances. A Greenlight4 found that these students are interested in personal finance and want to learn how to address these concerns.
Keep Reading: The 25 Most Common Financial Questions College Students Are Asking
However, they lack confidence and don’t know where to find accurate financial information and education.
That’s where colleges and universities come in. Providing a student financial wellness plan can help your students gain the financial confidence they need now and learn skills that will help them far into the future. Here’s how.
Budgeting
According to the Greenlight survey, 49% of Gen Z have never made a budget. This means that half of your Gen Z students do not know how to make sure the money coming in each month is sufficient for the amount they spend.
Without budgeting skills, your students are more likely to:
- Incur debt while in school
- Develop issues with food security or homelessness
- Drop out of school due to money issues
The iGrad Financial Wellness platform can help students discover their money personality as well as their current financial standing. iGrad then provides the students with a personalized plan of action.
For students who know nothing about budgeting, iGrad has them covered with dedicated learning modules, articles, videos, and tools to help them create and keep a budget.
You can schedule a demo to learn more about the interactive and fully customizable program.
Credit and Debit
One-third of Gen Z does not know the difference between credit cards and debit cards. This likely means that they don’t understand how to use credit cards, how to avoid credit card debt, or when to use a credit card vs a debit card.
A College Finance5 survey found that:
- The average college student graduates with $3,280 of credit card debt
- Two-thirds of college students have some credit card debt
- College students often pay only the minimum payment (44.7%) or miss payments (37.6%)
- Rather than use credit cards wisely, students tend to use them for online shopping (70.1%) and eating out (50%)
iGrad can help students gain healthier financial habits.
Data gained from iGrad’s sister company, Enrich6, found that of users engaging with the program for one year, 28% more began paying off their credit cards in full each year. This type of result can have lasting effects on your students.
Investing
Of those surveyed. Greenlight found that a whopping 86% of Gen Z is interested in investing. However, the consensus is that they don’t have the confidence or know where to get started.
They also fear that the information they get from parents and social media (such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram) may not be accurate.
By offering a financial wellness program, you can help these students learn about investment basics.
iGrad offers two courses on investing: Investing to Build Wealth and Planning for Retirement. Additionally, students can read articles, watch videos, and try out the investment allocation tool and the millionaire calculator.
Offering financial wellness gives your students what they are asking for – an opportunity to learn more about financial matters from a reputable source.
See how other schools are running successful programs: Best College Financial Literacy Programs
1 - https://www.csusb.edu/sites/default/files/The%20Chronicle%20of%20Higher%20Ed.%20-The%20Future%20of%20Gen%20Z.pdf
2 - https://www.cfp.net/-/media/files/cfp-board/news/2020/CFP-Board-Survey-Release.pdf
3 - https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/survey-generation-z-keen-on-learning-about-personal-finance-and-credit/
4 - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/survey-finds-gen-z-lacks-knowledge-and-confidence-in-personal-finance-and-investing-301260281.html
5 - https://collegefinance.com/research/college-student-debt-and-credit-card-usage
6 - https://www.enrich.org/financial-wellness-behavior-change-data-study
