Today’s college student increasingly looks nothing like the traditional image of a full-time undergrad living on campus and studying between classes. According to Ellucian’s newly released third annual Student Voice Report, 56% of current college students now work full-time jobs while pursuing their degrees, a shift the report says is forcing colleges and universities to rethink how they design academic support, scheduling, and financial services.
The report, titled “Why Institutional Relevance Will Define the Next Era of Higher Education,” draws on a national survey of 2,001 U.S. respondents conducted by Ellucian in partnership with EMI Research Solutions between March 16 and April 2, 2026. The sample included 1,718 currently enrolled college students and 283 college-bound high schoolers, spanning a range of institution types, income levels, and racial and ethnic backgrounds.
The findings suggest that working while studying isn’t a niche circumstance but the new norm — and one that hits some student populations harder than others. Full-time employment climbs to 62% among first-generation students, and to 71% and 72%, respectively, among students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions. The financial pressure behind that trend is stark: 58% of students say they’ve had to choose between paying for college and covering basic needs like food and housing, a number that rises as high as 78% among MSI students. Ellucian also found that this financial strain is taking a psychological toll — 90% of students said financial stress has affected their mental health in some way over the past year, with 42% describing the impact as significant.
Money is also reshaping how students pick a school in the first place. The survey found that 89% of respondents would consider switching institutions for more scholarship aid, and for nearly half, it wouldn’t take much: 49% said an extra $5,000 or less could have changed where they enrolled. Speed matters too. Among high school respondents, 22% said they’d wait only two weeks for a financial aid offer before looking elsewhere, while just 11% said they’d hold out more than two months. Despite how much weight students place on aid, most don’t fully understand it — only 29% said they felt very confident they understood the terms of their aid package and loan repayment obligations.
The report also points to a wide gap between what students want from their education and what they’re actually getting, particularly around career preparation. Nearly three-quarters of students, 74%, said they wanted their degree plans to include career pathways and salary information, but only 4% said their institution currently provides that. A similar gap shows up around alternative credentials: 71% of students expressed interest in stackable or alternative credentials, yet just 3% are currently enrolled in such programs — a disparity Ellucian attributes to limited awareness and access rather than lack of demand.
Ellucian President and CEO Laura Ipsen framed the findings as evidence that students are redefining what they value in higher education, looking past institutional prestige toward more concrete measures of support and outcomes. The report’s authors argue that colleges best positioned to remain competitive won’t necessarily be the ones with the longest histories or highest rankings, but those that can answer, in practical terms, whether they can accommodate a student’s job, make college affordable, prepare them for a career, and continue supporting them long after graduation.
