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Students from underprivileged backgrounds report more stress around the college search and admissions process than their higher-income peers, according to a new report from higher ed consulting firm Art & Science Group.
The report, based on a poll of high school seniors planning to attend a four-year college this fall, found that 89 percent of respondents reported moderate to severe anxiety around applying to colleges, and nearly half rated their anxiety at an eight out of 10 or higher.
It also found that students with socioeconomic disadvantages—first-generation applicants, those from low-income families, those at high schools with few counseling resources—felt that anxiety more often and more strongly than their peers.
Sixty-two percent of students whose families earn less than $60,000 a year reported especially high levels of college search anxiety, compared with 43 percent of the general pool. Forty-eight percent of first-generation students and 53 percent of low-income students reported feeling stressed about the application process on a weekly basis, compared to 36 percent of students whose parents attended college and 32 percent of high-income students.
In addition, students applying to the most highly selective colleges like Harvard and Stanford Universities reported less stress about the process than those applying primarily to institutions that fall outside of the national top 50.
The most common source of anxiety for students was meeting application deadlines, followed closely by uncertainty about future job prospects and the cost of a degree—suggesting that for students with fewer resources, getting into college is only the beginning of their postsecondary anxieties.
