Technology Access and Financial Stress: Post-COVID-19 Academic Outcomes for First-Generation and Continuing-Generation College Students

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education1500881.pdf (562.21 KB)

Links to Files

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/7/881

Permanent Link

https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15070881
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/39520

Collections

UMBC Faculty Collection
UMBC Education Department
UMBC Psychology Department
UMBC Student Collection

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0015-1100
 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7898-2882

Date

2025-07-10

Type of Work

journal articles
Text

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

Krasniqi, Besjanë, and Susan Sonnenschein. “Technology Access and Financial Stress: Post-COVID-19 Academic Outcomes for First-Generation and Continuing-Generation College Students.” Education Sciences 15, no. 7 (2025): 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15070881.

Rights

Attribution 4.0 International

Subjects

technology access
first-generation college students
UMBC Children and Families, Schooling and Development Lab
COVID-19 pandemic
digital divide
academic performance
financial stress

Abstract

Technology is essential in higher education, yet disparities in access disproportionately affect first-generation college students. This study examines how technology access and financial stress impact academic performance for first-generation (FGCS) and continuing-generation college students (CGCS). Students (N = 430) were asked to reflect on their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their technology access and financial stress. Results showed that FGCS reported significantly lower technology access and higher levels of financial stress than CGCS. Greater technology access was a significant positive predictor of academic performance for FGCS but not CGCS. However, this effect diminished when financial stress was added to the regression model. Moderation analysis showed that financial stress significantly moderated the relation between technology access and academic performance. This suggests that under high financial stress, technology access becomes a critical resource for academic performance.