Title: Financial difficulties and perseverance in postsecondary education: where we stand today

Authors: Élisé Wendlassida Miningou; Valérie Vierstraete; Eric Yergeau

Addresses: Department of Economics, GREDI, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Boulevard de l'Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada ' Department of Economics, GREDI, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Boulevard de l'Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada ' Department of Vocational Guidance, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500 Boulevard de l'Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada

Abstract: Students' financial difficulties can be considered as one of the most important barriers in postsecondary education. Researchers from various domains have attempted to understand the relationship between students' financial difficulties and persistence in postsecondary education. In this paper, we propose an analysis of the literature concerning students' financial barriers and persistence in postsecondary education, mainly in the USA and in Canada. We find that students' financial difficulties can affect postsecondary persistence through three channels: financial aid imperfections, working while in school and parents' revenue. These three dimensions of financial difficulties can also affect achievement in postsecondary education.

Keywords: higher education; financial difficulties; persistence; financial aid; parental revenue; working students; education economics; perseverance; student finance; post-secondary education; USA; United States; Canada; financial barriers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEED.2014.061465

International Journal of Education Economics and Development, 2014 Vol.5 No.2, pp.194 - 208

Received: 15 Aug 2013
Accepted: 23 Oct 2013
Published online: 21 Jun 2014 *

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