College Students Are So Strapped For Cash That A $500 Emergency Would Place Them In Debt

Praying for days of sunshine is the only thing most college students have to fall back on when rainy days hit.

A student financial wellness survey found that most college students in the U.S. cannot secure $500 in the event of an emergency, Forbes reported.

Trellis Research conducted the survey. The executive summary showed that the organization recorded the responses of 36,446 students at two- and four-year institutions. A breakdown of survey responses by race revealed 69 percent of Black students and 61 percent of Hispanic students said they would have trouble finding $500 to cover an emergency.

White students accounted for 53 percent. The numbers were closer in range for students who reported being worried about covering college expenses overall. Exactly 63 percent of Black students worried about paying for college. White and Hispanic students were close, with 61 percent and 68 percent, respectively.

According to the survey, Black students worried the most about current expenses, 59 percent, followed by Hispanics (55 percent) and whites (51 percent).

Forbes noted that parenting students had it harder financially than students without children. Parenting students are responsible for caring for their children’s needs on top of college and living expenses and added expenses such as costs associated with any emergencies involving their children.

According to Trellis Research, individuals who identified as women, Black, or older in age mostly responded that they were parents. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research supports Trellis’ findings about how likely Black women in college are to be parents. The institute reported that Black women are more likely to be mothers while in college even though they enroll at higher rates than their non-Black counterparts.

The student financial wellness survey was divided into six sections: “Distress Indicators Among College Students,” “Student Success Indicators,” “Students Who Are Parents,” “Paying For College,” “Student Credit Card Use and Risky Borrowing,” and “Financial Behavior, Knowledge, and Decision-Making.”