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The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the application that postsecondary students complete to receive federal grants, work-study, and loans; as well as some state and institutional grants, and private financial aid. In 2019-2020, 17.7 million undergraduates filed a FAFSA and in 2021-2022, full-time equivalent students received an average of $15,330 in financial aid. While the percentage of undergraduate students filing the FAFSA has increased significantly in the past twenty years, it is estimated that over one-third of non-filers in the 2015-2016 school year would have qualified for the Federal Pell Grant. This brief examines data from 59,208 students at 104 higher education institutions that participated in Trellis' Fall 2021 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS). The report focuses on self-reported FAFSA completion and reasons for not completing the FAFSA. Research indicates a link between filing a FAFSA and within-year persistence, year-to-year persistence, and earning a degree within six years. Therefore, understanding students' FAFSA completion rate and reasons for non-submission can inform strategies to help students remain in school and graduate on time.

The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) provides a snapshot of student financial wellbeing during the fall of 2021. Over 700,000 students were surveyed from 104 schools in 25 states and 63,751 students responded. During this period Federal stimulus funding helped stabilize finances for many students, but many still struggled to make ends meet. This report is meant to amplify the lived experience of these students. Understanding these experiences will allow college administrators and policymakers to better serve students, enabling them to reach their academic potential. The Fall 2021 SFWS questionnaire went through a thorough reassessment. To reduce survey burden, many questions were removed and others rewritten based on feedback from students, school administrators, and various experts in collegiate finances. This resulted in an instrument that was easier for students to understand and quicker to complete. The report is divided into the following sections: (1) Paying for College; (2) Student Credit Card Use and Risky Borrowing; (3) Financial Decision-Making Factors and Financial Behaviors; (4) Student Financial Security; (5) Basic Needs Security; (6) Students Who Are Parents; and (7) Mental Health Challenges.

Postsecondary students face a myriad of complex financial decisions and tasks, such as financing their education, choosing a major with a return on investment, budgeting, and crafting repayment strategies for credit card and student loan debt(s). With respect to student loans, many borrowers feel "burdened by the repayment process" and express regret for having borrowed so much. Understanding students' utilization and attitudes when receiving assistance with financial decision-making can serve as a first step when evaluating on- and off-campus financial services. This brief examines data from 45,624 students at 104 higher education institutions that participated in Trellis' Fall 2021 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) with a focus on students' comfort discussing financial situations with others and students' monetary discussions with financial aid advisors. [For "Student Financial Wellness Survey: Fall 2021 Semester Results. National Aggregate Report," see ED625724.]

Transportation costs (gas, car maintenance, public transportation, and parking) make up a large part (nearly 20 percent) of college students' living expenses. Additionally, many students face long commutes because they lack access to a reliable car and/or rely on inconvenient public transportation. Periodic car breakdowns can lead to missed classes and unexpected expenses. Studies conducted in 2021 found that when compared to students who have their transportation costs subsidized and who have access to safe and reliable transportation, students who do not receive subsidies and who do not have access to safe and reliable transportation are less likely to complete courses and finish degrees. This brief examines transportation data from 63,751 students at 104 higher education institutions that participated in Trellis' Fall 2021 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) with a special lens on their loyalty to their school since research suggests that loyal customers are also more likely to continue their patronage. Strategies to help students to stay in school and graduate should be informed by how their students get to school.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has proved, maintaining student financial wellness is key to keeping students enrolled. The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) was administered a year and a half into the pandemic, during a time when vaccinations were allowing schools to return to in-person learning, but the pandemic was continuing to have a strong impact. The SFWS is a self-reported, online survey that documents the financial well-being and student success indicators of postsecondary students across the nation. The Fall 2021 SFWS included many questions from prior implementations as well as new questions on topics including emergency aid, food pantry awareness and use, mental health, and expectations of student loan forgiveness. This report details findings from the Fall 2021 implementation at 24 Texas community colleges.

As the COVID-19 pandemic is proving, maintaining student financial wellness is key to keeping students enrolled. The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) was open from October 2020 to November 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic crisis were prominent concerns for students as they navigated a mostly remote learning experience for a fall semester unlike any before. Respondents seemed eager to share their experiences, resulting in the highest response rate for the SFWS to date--9.7 percent. Trellis collected information about the entire population surveyed--i.e., gender, age, enrollment intensity--and used it to weigh the results, reflecting the total populations of the participating institutions. There may be lingering response biases based on characteristics uncaptured in the study, some of which may be meaningful when interpreting the results. Sixty-two institutions participated in the survey--46 two-year institutions, 12 public four-years, and 4 private four-years. While the SFWS is not nationally representative, the participating institutions represent a wide range of institutions from 13 different states. In partnership with participating institutions, web-based survey invitations were sent to 394,240 undergraduate students, of whom 37,936 responded. A detailed description of survey characteristics, comparison groups, tests for representativeness, methodology, and other research notes can be found in the appendices. [For the 2019 report, see ED610029.]