Survey Reveals Higher Ed Students Have Inequitable Access to Reliable Broadband
Access to high-speed broadband internet, affordable child care, housing, adequate financial aid: these are some of the challenges that today’s students in college faced prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, which have now been amplified by the pandemic. Stories of students using parking lots to access broadband have proliferated. In a previous survey conducted by Higher Learning Advocates, student parents reported relying primarily on school and family for child care needs, but the closures of K-12 schools, social distancing guidelines, and risks to older or at-risk family members restrict these options. And abrupt campus closures and the quick transition to online learning have left students who lived on campus scrambling for housing and facing unexpected costs, disruption, and too often the loss of income from on-campus jobs. These challenges are all in addition to the historic unemployment rates and uncertainty about the future spread of COVID-19 that the U.S. is grappling with.
To better understand the challenges that today’s students are currently facing, we commissioned Launch Compass to administer an online survey to college students across the nation. The survey had 13 questions to collect demographic information and information about students’ education experiences during the spring 2020 semester. We received a total of 2,200 responses from respondents from a variety of institution types and demographic backgrounds. Detailed information about the racial/ethnic background, employment status, age, enrollment intensity, and institution type of respondents can be found in the footnotes¹. This was not a nationally representative survey, and responses cannot necessarily be generalized to all students. However, these responses can provide insight into the challenges that a national subset of students reported experiencing and inform policy designed to support today’s students.
Survey Results
Our survey yielded some optimistic findings: 91 percent of respondents reported that they were likely or very likely to re-enroll, and this percentage held constant across race, age, and employment status. However, our questions about internet connectivity revealed that many students either don’t have internet at home or are struggling to access course content. Given that many colleges are currently offering courses online and are considering either offering courses virtually in the fall or offering a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning, our findings indicate that policymakers should find ways to support students who are learning at home.
Many respondents reported using more than one location to participate in their courses, but the vast majority of respondents indicated that at least one of their locales is where they are living. For students who reported that they don’t have access at home, mobile data plans were the most common way that they accessed course materials. Bandwidth heavy activities, such as participating in a live video lecture, can consume a large portion of a student’s limited mobile data limit — very few data plans are truly unlimited. And experts have found that mobile data plans generally don’t have the necessary upload and download speeds to complete online coursework, meaning that these students could be more likely to fall behind.
In addition to the other challenges that accompany relying on mobile data plans, completing coursework from a phone is challenging. Although it is likely that some respondents used tethering to connect their laptop or tablet to the internet through their mobile data plan, most respondents who were reliant on mobile data plans reported using their smartphones to complete course content. Instructor materials may not be designed to be viewed or completed on a smartphone, and in previous surveys, students have reported difficulty with receiving troubleshooting support when they encounter glitchy apps or other tech challenges with completing materials on their phones. Over 40 of all survey respondents who answered that they relied on mobile data to complete coursework reported that they experienced difficulty accessing course materials. Latinx and Black respondents were more likely to answer that they relied solely on mobile data to access course materials and answer that they experienced difficulty accessing course content when using mobile data.
The other way that students without internet at home completed course content was at a public place. A quarter of students without internet at home responded that they relied on a public place to access the internet to complete course material, which means that they might be dependent on an internet connection that is slower or more unreliable than is conducive to academic success. And given the uncertainty about a potential resurgence of COVID-19 in the fall, students traveling to a public place for internet access may be counter to public health guidance.
Even though 94 percent of respondents reported that they had internet access at home, nearly 30 percent still responded that they had difficulty accessing course content. This number was even higher for students without internet at home: 46 percent of students without internet where they live reported difficulty connecting to at least one school resource. This means that students who are unable to connect to the internet at home due to either high costs or geography, such as students in rural communities or Tribal nations, could be more disenfranchised in an online learning environment.
Connectivity difficulties varied across age and race. Latinx respondents were six percent less likely to have internet at home and 13 percent more likely to rely on mobile broadband data to access course content. Although Asian respondents were as likely to have internet at home as other respondents, they were the most likely to report that they experienced difficulty accessing course content, with 37 percent reporting at least one problem.
Twelve percent of respondents aged 24 and younger reported that they did not have internet at home, and 41 percent of respondents in this age group reported at least one problem accessing course content. Older respondents were more likely to have internet access at home and reported fewer difficulties. For example, only six percent of respondents aged 40 or older did not have internet at home and only 24 percent reported difficulty accessing course material.
Policy Solutions
Although our findings show that a large proportion of students are facing connectivity challenges, our survey was distributed virtually and likely undercounts the true proportion of students without reliable internet access. The number most common reason that households have for not having internet access at home is cost, and one step that policymakers can take to support students who are online learners during this time is by providing resources for postsecondary institutions to supply mobile broadband and hotspots to their students. Policymakers should look to the Supporting Connectivity for Higher Education Students in Need Act introduced by Reps. Eshoo, Matsui, Butterfield, Castro, Fudge, Blunt Rochester, and Adams, and Senators Klobuchar, Hirono, Peters, and Rosen. The proposals in this bill would help students who currently do not have access to fixed broadband and technology at home, such as rural students. Additionally, students need affordable access to broadband at home for class work — our data indicate that fewer students report experiencing connectivity challenges when they have a broadband connection at home. Federal policymakers should support this need by expanding the generosity of the Lifeline program and allowing Pell-eligible students to receive vouchers from the program to access broadband internet.
Sixty-four percent of survey respondents reported that the employment of a member of their household had been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and 46 percent of respondents reported that they anticipated financial aid would be a barrier to continuing their education once the pandemic is over, and the most recent unemployment report shows that 41 million jobless claims have been filed since the beginning of the pandemic. With all of the other unexpected challenges that today’s students face in this pandemic, not being able to afford or access reliable broadband access shouldn’t be an additional barrier to success.
[1] Demographics of Survey Respondents
