Higher Education is looking for that "silver bullet" when it comes to reducing the attrition rate among their students. Prior research attempts to place those students who drop-out of college into a specific "bucket" - financial or academic or fit within the College. Our research looks for bleed-over effects in regards to those students who leave college during their first semester. We conducted a 139 question survey on all first-year students to gain information about their personal financial literacy, personal financial wellness, and self-reported stress levels on 24 different factors (the factors are then placed into one of four categories: Managing Work, Family and School, Academic Performance in the Classroom, and Academic Performance outside of the Classroom). Initial findings show that students who self-report high levels of stress have lower financial literacy (scoring lower on the FINRA 6 question survey), lower financial wellness (morel likely to not be able to handle a $500 expense, have trouble sleeping because of financial situation), and are more likely to be working.

Accepted Oral Presentation