Regional Public Students Feel Belonging and Financial Stress

Nearly four in five students at regional public universities are concerned that a financial emergency will prevent them from continuing school, and more than half say they are “just getting by” financially, according to a new report from the nonprofit think tank Third Way.

In a wide-ranging survey of 500 regional public university students, Third Way asked about finances, politics, artificial intelligence and what the media gets wrong about their college experience.

“Our cultural obsession with highly selective universities has created an unrealistic picture of who today’s college students really are and the types of institutions they attend. Despite being the place where access and opportunity meet, regional public universities have largely been under the radar, working hard to deliver affordable education that leads to well-paying jobs,” the authors wrote.

Most regional public students—86 percent—attend school in their home state, and 38 percent are the first in their family to go to college, according to the survey. One student wrote that regional public universities are “more welcoming and affordable than any other, and I wouldn’t choose to go anywhere else.”

Average in-state tuition at regional public universities is about $10,000, according to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. About a third of regional public students believe their college is more affordable than others, and 44 percent said the price is “typical.” Sixty-eight percent of students took out a loan to help pay for college.

About 37 percent of regional public students said they use AI every day, with one in five reporting that they use it multiple times a day. Another 35 percent said they rarely or never use AI, and 61 percent are worried AI will eliminate or significantly impact their career paths.

Eighty-seven percent of students said that the mainstream media coverage of college life is accurate, but respondents also noted that it “misses the mark” in key ways, according to the report.

“The media often portrays college life as one endless party … in reality, college involves a heavy workload of lectures, assignments, group projects, and exams, with many students juggling part-time jobs, financial stress, and real academic pressure,” one student wrote.