Low-income, first-generation college students experience unique obstacles in their pursuits of a college degree. One of the biggest stressors that exist within this population is financial stress which has led to money being the number one reason students do not persist to graduation. Despite this being one of their biggest stressors, many higher education institutions do not put an emphasis on financial literacy initiatives that research has shown can help alleviate this type of stress. This mixed methods study explores the impact financial literacy and financial capability has on a students’ self-efficacy. This research is guided by Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory. Student participants from National Louis University voluntarily completed a twenty-six-question survey which included a question at the end inviting them to an optional ten minute follow up interview. Five themes emerged from survey and interview analysis: financial guidance, proactive financial education, student loans, effect on academics, and financial stressors. Implications for practice include the transparency and clarification surrounding the student financial aid that is awarded, promote and train students on the financial literacy tool that institutions oftentimes make available to students, and expand the visibility, outreach, and ease of implementation for students to begin using the financial literacy tool that may be available at an institution. Recommendations for future research include gaining a greater understanding of why student awareness of financial literacy initiatives is so low at many institutions and how to recreate successful practices that already exist at institutions to implement them more broadly.
","abstract_html":"<p>Low-income, first-generation college students experience unique obstacles in their pursuits of a college degree. One of the biggest stressors that exist within this population is financial stress which has led to money being the number one reason students do not persist to graduation. Despite this being one of their biggest stressors, many higher education institutions do not put an emphasis on financial literacy initiatives that research has shown can help alleviate this type of stress. This mixed methods study explores the impact financial literacy and financial capability has on a students’ self-efficacy. This research is guided by Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory. Student participants from National Louis University voluntarily completed a twenty-six-question survey which included a question at the end inviting them to an optional ten minute follow up interview. Five themes emerged from survey and interview analysis: financial guidance, proactive financial education, student loans, effect on academics, and financial stressors. Implications for practice include the transparency and clarification surrounding the student financial aid that is awarded, promote and train students on the financial literacy tool that institutions oftentimes make available to students, and expand the visibility, outreach, and ease of implementation for students to begin using the financial literacy tool that may be available at an institution. Recommendations for future research include gaining a greater understanding of why student awareness of financial literacy initiatives is so low at many institutions and how to recreate successful practices that already exist at institutions to implement them more broadly.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Scott, Darren"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ed.D. Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation - Public Access","degree_discipline":"Higher Education Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Jaclyn Rivard","Dr. Eddie Phillips","Dr. Brian Hamluk"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:20Z","subjects":["Financial literacy","financial capability","National Louis University","financial education","student loans","self-efficacy","Higher Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/814","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Jaclyn Rivard","Dr. Eddie Phillips","Dr. Brian Hamluk"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Scott, Darren"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-04-25T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Higher Education Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation - Public Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Financial literacy","financial capability","National Louis University","financial education","student loans","self-efficacy","Higher Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/814"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Low-income, first-generation college students experience unique obstacles in their pursuits of a college degree. One of the biggest stressors that exist within this population is financial stress which has led to money being the number one reason students do not persist to graduation. Despite this being one of their biggest stressors, many higher education institutions do not put an emphasis on financial literacy initiatives that research has shown can help alleviate this type of stress. This mixed methods study explores the impact financial literacy and financial capability has on a students’ self-efficacy. This research is guided by Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory. Student participants from National Louis University voluntarily completed a twenty-six-question survey which included a question at the end inviting them to an optional ten minute follow up interview. Five themes emerged from survey and interview analysis: financial guidance, proactive financial education, student loans, effect on academics, and financial stressors. Implications for practice include the transparency and clarification surrounding the student financial aid that is awarded, promote and train students on the financial literacy tool that institutions oftentimes make available to students, and expand the visibility, outreach, and ease of implementation for students to begin using the financial literacy tool that may be available at an institution. Recommendations for future research include gaining a greater understanding of why student awareness of financial literacy initiatives is so low at many institutions and how to recreate successful practices that already exist at institutions to implement them more broadly.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Impact of Financial Literacy and Financial Capability on Students' Self-Efficacy"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Jaclyn Rivard","Dr. Eddie Phillips","Dr. Brian Hamluk"],"dc:creator":["Scott, Darren"],"dc:date.available":["2024-04-25T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Low-income, first-generation college students experience unique obstacles in their pursuits of a college degree. One of the biggest stressors that exist within this population is financial stress which has led to money being the number one reason students do not persist to graduation. Despite this being one of their biggest stressors, many higher education institutions do not put an emphasis on financial literacy initiatives that research has shown can help alleviate this type of stress. This mixed methods study explores the impact financial literacy and financial capability has on a students’ self-efficacy. This research is guided by Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory. Student participants from National Louis University voluntarily completed a twenty-six-question survey which included a question at the end inviting them to an optional ten minute follow up interview. Five themes emerged from survey and interview analysis: financial guidance, proactive financial education, student loans, effect on academics, and financial stressors. Implications for practice include the transparency and clarification surrounding the student financial aid that is awarded, promote and train students on the financial literacy tool that institutions oftentimes make available to students, and expand the visibility, outreach, and ease of implementation for students to begin using the financial literacy tool that may be available at an institution. Recommendations for future research include gaining a greater understanding of why student awareness of financial literacy initiatives is so low at many institutions and how to recreate successful practices that already exist at institutions to implement them more broadly.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/814"],"dc:subject":["Financial literacy","financial capability","National Louis University","financial education","student loans","self-efficacy","Higher Education"],"dc:title":["Impact of Financial Literacy and Financial Capability on Students' Self-Efficacy"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Higher Education Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation - Public Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ed.D. Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:21:20Z"}