To Their Credit: Information Desired by College Students Seeking Peer Financial Mentoring

Abstract

As an emerging field in higher education, institutions have adopted financial mentoring programs to help college students understand their finances (Goetz et al., 2011). However, little guidance exists to help these programs anticipate student needs and facilitate student-friendly programming (Taylor, 2022). As a result, this study engaged with 54 collegiate peer financial mentors across seven institutions of higher education to explore what financial topics college students struggle with and request mentoring for. This study employs a phenomenological qualitative approach using focus group data collection techniques (Saldaña & Omasta, 2022). We purposively sampled participants from institutions of higher education with peer financial mentoring programs over a three-year span (2020-2023) through research team connections with the Higher Education Financial Wellness Alliance. Participants attended virtual focus groups with colleagues from their institution, resulting in 22 focus groups held with 54 peer financial mentors across seven institutions of higher education. Three core themes emerged from the data related to financial topics that college students seek financial mentoring for: 1.) Understanding credit cards and how to build credit, 2.) Budgeting and investing, and 3.) Student loan management and repayment. However, peer financial mentors often expressed concerns about providing peers with financial information, especially about investing and student loan repayment, as peer financial mentors were cautioned by supervisors to avoid discussing investment options and student loan forgiveness. Although financial mentoring programs are emerging on college campuses, this research provides institutions and their financial mentoring programs with a foundation on which to understand what college students request when they seek peer financial mentoring. This study also sheds light on how program managers can anticipate student needs, help mentors navigate difficult topics, and train peer financial mentors to provide accurate, relevant financial information to college students.