A total of 87 percent of Kenyan students have struggled to afford either housing costs, utility bills, food, or medical treatment/services in the last 12 months – the highest of any country surveyed.
51 percent of Kenyan students said they had struggled to afford just housing costs in the last 12 months – the highest of any country surveyed.
61 percent of Kenyan students have a debt or loan related to their college/university studies – the second-highest of any country surveyed.
When asked what they thought was the single biggest issue facing their generation, 48 percent of Kenyan students said “access to good quality jobs” – the joint highest proportion of any country surveyed, alongside Spanish students. This compared to 28 percent who said the same across all countries surveyed.
These findings are among those published by Chegg.org, the nonprofit arm of education technology company Chegg. They are based on in-depth opinion polling by Yonder (formerly known as Populus) of over 17,000 undergraduate students aged 18-21 years across 21 countries around the world, including 507 students in Kenya.
This second Chegg.org Global Student Survey is the most comprehensive up-to-date survey of the lives, hopes and fears of undergraduate students throughout the world in the age of COVID and beyond; the first was published in February 2021.
Questions covered students’ views on learning in the age of COVID, how they coped with their finances and the cost of living, skills and careers, their health, wellbeing and social attitudes, and climate change and sustainability.
“College students are finally now readjusting to campus life after experiencing the greatest disruption to education the world has ever known. At the same time, they face profound societal challenges including widening inequality, increasing automation, and climate change. In this new global study, undergraduates were asked about their hopes, fears, and overall state of mind. We believe the resulting data can help governments, business and higher education better support students in this age of Covid and beyond,” Dan Rosensweig, President and CEO of Chegg, said.
“These findings also make clear that higher education must become more accessible, affordable and responsive to what learners really need. In particular, students need their universities to provide more mental health support, teach the skills for tomorrow’s careers, and respond to their clear concerns about the environment. By doing so, we can help this generation face the future with confidence.”
The survey also showed that Kenyan students have prominent climate change concerns, for instance, of those Kenyan students who said they worry about climate change, 38 percent worry about it every day or more often – the joint highest of any country surveyed, alongside Brazil. 49 percent say they worry about it once a week or more often.
Three in 10 (30 percent) Kenyan students have joined a campaigning organisation to try and make a difference on climate change – the highest of any country surveyed.
Four out of five (80 percent) Kenyan students say they currently feel optimistic – the highest of any country surveyed, and an increase from 75 percent in 2021. Meanwhile, 83 percent of Kenyan students said they feel hopeful about their finances in the future – the second-highest of any country surveyed.
Key global findings
Six in ten students (60 percent) worldwide say that the pandemic ruined their college/university experience, while nearly four in ten students (39 percent) worldwide say that the pandemic will permanently damage their employment prospects.
Nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of students worldwide – and more than half of students in 20 out of 21 countries – would rather their university offered the choice of more online learning if it meant paying lower tuition fees.
Nearly six in ten (59 percent) students worldwide say that, if it were cheaper, they would prefer their university degree take a shorter amount of time to complete – up from 54 percent in 2021. Not only that, the number of students expressing this view increased in almost every country surveyed, apart from China, India and the US.
Only 54 percent of students globally think their teachers/professors know how to teach effectively online.
A quarter (25 percent) of students worldwide who have a study-related debt or loan say it has made them so anxious they have sought medical help over it; 43 percent say it makes them wish they had made a different choice (up from 38 percent in 2021); and 28percent do not think they will ever pay it off.
57 percent of students worldwide have struggled to afford either housing costs, utility bills, food, or medical treatment/services in the last 12 months.
Nearly one-third (32 percent) said their mental health worsened since starting on campus or returning to campus after lockdown restrictions.
74 percent of students worldwide say they worry about climate change and nearly one-third (29 percent) of students globally say it will have an impact on their decision whether to have children. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of students worldwide say that they have reduced their meat consumption in the last five years due to environmental concerns. However, almost half (48 percent) said they have not. 20 percent of students worldwide have pursued a career that focuses on sustainability.
Just 42 percent of students worldwide think their college/university is addressing issues around sustainability well.
Access to good quality jobs is the biggest issue facing their generation, according to students from around the world. 28 percent of students said “access to good quality jobs” was the biggest issue facing their generation, followed by 23 percent who said “the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer”.
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