The Impact of a Kalamazoo College Student's Financial Circumstances on Academic Performance

My study looked at the impact of a Kalamazoo College’s financial circumstances on his or her academic performance. I looked at three main factors – employment, parental financial support, and financial aid – and their effects on a Kalamazoo student’s academic performance, measured in terms of the student’s GPA. I sent a link to my online survey to 141 students, of which 40 completed the entire survey.

Of those surveyed:

·         65% were employed

·         73% work on campus

·         50% had a work-study job

·         80% percent were female, 20% were male

·         Employed students work about 10.5 hours per week on average

·         Students spend about 19 hours per week on average studying and/or doing homework

·         On average, students said they could do homework or study at work 23% of the time

·         On average, students said that their job had no effect on their academic performance

·         The average amount that parents pay for tuition is $15,921 per year

·         The average amount that parents pay for tuition is $3,003 per year

·         The average financial aid award was $18,779 per year

·         The average amount of merit-based aid received was $14,655 per year

·         The average amount of need-based aid received was $4,068 per year

After analyzing the data collected in the survey, I found the following evidence to support my three original research questions:

·         Does a student’s employment status affect his or her GPA?

o   Spending more time studying per week increases GPA

o   Spending more time working per week decreases GPA

o   Having a job decreases GPA, compared with a similar unemployed student

o   Working on campus increases GPA

o   Having a more flexible job increases GPA

·         Does the amount a student’s parents contribute toward tuition affect his or her GPA?

o   The higher a student’s family income, the lower his or her GPA tends to be

o   The more a student’s parents contribute toward tuition, the lower his or her GPA tends to be

o   The more a student contributes toward his or her own tuition, the higher his or her GPA tends to be

·         Does the amount of financial aid a student receives affect his or her GPA?

o   The more merit-based aid a student receives, the higher his or her GPA tends to be

o   The more need-based aid a student receives, the higher his or her GPA tends to be

The fact that I found statistically significant relations between these factors led me to conclude that a Kalamazoo College student’s financial circumstances do in fact impact his or her GPA.