The Extraordinary Pressures Online Students Face
The Spring 2025 Student Financial Wellness Survey of online students by Trellis Strategies makes one thing unmistakably clear: Today’s students are doing extraordinary work under extraordinary pressure.
More than 16,000 online students participated in this inaugural survey, which was adapted from the annual, campus-based survey Trellis Strategies implemented in 2018. The new data paints a picture of persistence layered with strain.
Online learning eases many challenges for students, but these students aren’t immune to the financial stresses, food insecurity, and loneliness that can impede academic success.
Let’s look first at the survey’s overall findings, and then I’ll share some WGU-specific data.
Workers First, Students Second
Nearly three-quarters of respondents are working, more than half are parents and many are caregivers. These learners are not “students with side jobs.” Seventy-one percent of working respondents see themselves as workers first and students second. Education is being pursued alongside full lives, not instead of them.
Financial stress is a defining reality for many online learners. Compared with their on-campus peers, they are far more likely to be supporting families while pursuing a degree (71% vs. 38%) and nearly three-quarters work 40 or more hours per week. Despite this effort, financial vulnerability remains high: 65% would struggle to cover a $500 emergency, more than 79% rely on student loans, and over half carry more debt than expected — only 27% feel confident they can repay it. Alarmingly, 19% experienced homelessness in the past year, and one in five turned to payday or auto title loans, a clear indicator of cash-flow instability rather than poor financial decision-making.
The data on basic needs should stop us in our tracks. Sixty-eight percent of respondents experienced food insecurity, housing insecurity or homelessness in the past year. At the same time, mental health concerns are widespread, with 42% screening positive for anxiety and nearly one-third for depression. Feelings of loneliness were pervasive as well.
What About WGU Students?
Trellis included just over 4,000 WGU students in its fall 2024 survey. Our students also face hardships:
• 57% of WGU respondents said they are parents or caregivers to other dependents.
• 55% would struggle to cover a $500 emergency expense.
• 13% have experienced homelessness.
• 82% worked for pay while enrolled.
• 52% worried about paying monthly expenses.
• 37% of WGU respondents report low or very low food security.
These realities directly affect persistence, completion and long-term economic mobility.
And yet, here’s the signal of hope we cannot ignore. Eighty percent of respondents believe college is a good investment in their financial future. Institutions serving these students earned a net promoter score of 59, an exceptionally strong indicator of satisfaction, trust and perceived value.
Our Call to Action
Trellis identified five ways online institutions can help students work, care for others and earn the degrees that position them for economic mobility. I am grateful that WGU engages in all five actions Trellis recommends.
Student-focused scheduling: Our competency-based model allows students to study whenever and wherever they want and to progress at their own pace to earn their degrees — often much faster than on-campus programs, saving time and money.
Alleviating financial barriers: Since its founding, affordability has been a bedrock principle for WGU. We use a flat-rate tuition model that allows students to take as many courses as they can manage in a six-month term. We are also innovating alternative financing models, such as ReNEW, to help our students finish their degrees without crippling debt.
Emergency aid: WGU’s Environmental Barriers program is designed to support students facing external disruptions, such as natural disasters, pandemics and local crises, that threaten to disrupt their education.
Educational experiences: Our Responsible Borrowing Initiative provides a personalized financial aid plan for students who need assistance, with a core recommendation that they borrow only their “unmet direct costs” (tuition and fees minus any grants or scholarships). WGU students who do borrow money have half the debt of the national average post-graduation.
Work-integrated learning: Across our four schools, we have embedded learning opportunities to give students hands-on experience that prepares them for future jobs. From nursing and teaching clinicals to internships and apprenticeships, we know experience matters in today’s job market.
That said, we at WGU have work to do, as the survey shows.
This is our charge. Flexibility, emergency aid, work-integrated learning and proactive financial and mental health supports are no longer optional; they are the infrastructure of student success.
