A child is crushed under the weight of a shopping cart filled with heavy items, symbolizing the burden of financial stress.

Impact of the Cost of Living Crisis on Higher Education

A child is crushed under the weight of a shopping cart filled with heavy items, symbolizing the burden of financial stress.
Original illustration by student: Sara Albakri, Edinburgh Futures Institute

In this blog post, Dora Herndon and Ruth Elliott explore the key factors driving the Cost of Living Crisis among students and how it significantly impacts their university experience. They also discuss actionable steps that institutions can explore to help alleviate these challenges and support students more effectively. Dora is the President and Ruth is the Vice President Community at Edinburgh University Students’ Association. This post belongs to the Hot Topic theme: Critical insights into contemporary issues in Higher Education.


“I have had to miss classes because I’ve had to work in order to be able to eat.”

“I cry myself to sleep multiple times a week because my finances are killing my mental health.”

“I dare you to live off this stipend for just 3 months. You will see that it’s not really living.” – From a recent report by the Russell Group Students’ Unions.

Pursuing Higher Education has often been a long-term aspiration for many of us. The promise of personal and professional development, developing knowledge of a subject you love, and the prospect of a career in your chosen field have all been strong magnets for students. But in 2024, the seemingly ever-escalating Cost of Living Crisis casts a dark shadow over the student experience. This loads students with financial anxieties and pressures that are impacting their time at university not only through their ability to engage with their learning, but also with their wellbeing.

A recent report found that 94% of students are worried about the Cost of Living Crisis, and half say they are not confident that they have enough money to cover their basic living costs, with many resorting to increasing hours in part-time work or taking on debt (Russell Group Students’ Unions). Alarmingly, 37% of students said they had considered dropping out of Higher Education for financial reasons, with Scottish and Widening Participation students most likely to consider this as an option (NUS Scotland). These figures might seem shocking, and it might be tempting to assume that the demographics of Edinburgh’s students would protect them from these challenges, but that’s not the case. In fact, we see some specific effects here, with Edinburgh having some of the highest average monthly rents and highest supermarket spending in the UK (NatWest Student Living index, 2024).

The effect of these financial pressures can be huge on our students. Many find themselves facing difficult choices between attending class, part-time jobs, and having a social life. Students are experiencing heightened levels of anxiety, depression, and stress, exacerbated by financial worries such as missing rent payments or affording food. Inevitably, academic performance is affected, with students unable to concentrate or just outright not being able to commit enough time to attend their contact hours, let alone independent study, due to part-time work. You then have the knock-on effects, such as half-empty lecture theatres, because so many students cannot afford to miss a shift at work, which impacts the classroom experience of those who have been able to make it in. All of these challenges risk us moving backwards in the fight to make Higher Education accessible to all.

What are the biggest drivers of students’ Cost of Living Crisis?

Cost of housing: One of the most pressing challenges we face as students is the relentless increase in the cost of housing. With rents in Edinburgh rising at a rate higher than average across both Scotland and Great Britain overall, and Edinburgh City Council declaring a housing emergency in November 2023, our students are particularly affected by this (Office for National Statistics; City of Edinburgh Council). Many are forced to live in substandard housing – compromising on location, the condition of their home, or both. This results in stress, as well as isolation and increased travel costs. Add to this the high levels of competition for fewer properties at peak times of year, putting students under immense pressure and making them vulnerable to scams, which then naturally impacts their mental wellbeing and academic work.

Cost of food and basic supplies: Couple exorbitant housing costs with the soaring cost of food and other basics, and it’s not an easy time to be a student. We are seeing students’ mental and physical health impacted by an increasing reliance on cheaper and often more processed foods, with 52% skipping some meals altogether (NUS Scotland) just to bring their food bill down.

Transport costs: Cost of public transport is another major factor for many students. While under-22s receive free bus travel in Scotland, that leaves upwards of around 20,000 of our students without this access. A bus fare of £2 may not seem much, but this adds up if you need to travel to and from campus every day – especially when you factor in that students may not have a direct bus to their campus and could be paying to change buses. Even those receiving the most in student loans often have little left after paying their rent, without including the added cost of just getting around. 21% of students have skipped a class or lecture, and 7% have skipped a placement, to avoid paying for travel (NUS Scotland).

Rising tuition fees: The Cost of Living Crisis is affecting our 42,000 on-campus students, many of the 5,000 online students, and students across Higher Education, but it’s also preventing and discouraging other students from coming here in the first place. Combine the rising cost of just studying, particularly for international students, with the increasing cost of living and ever-uncertain career prospects after graduation, and you sow seeds of doubt in young people thinking about pursuing Higher Education in the UK. This risks returning us all to the time where University was only for the most well-off in society, and has massive implications for the diversity of our student population and social mobility in our society.

How do we fix this?

As with any problem this big, there is no quick-fix solution, especially with many institutions now tightening their belts. However, institutions can explore several ways to mitigate the impacts of the Cost of Living Crisis:

  1. Increase the financial support available: Whether that’s through scholarships and bursaries, or opportunities like grants and hardship funding.
  2. Make it accessible: Where these funds already exist, the application process should be reviewed through the lens of students who may be reluctant to apply due to the stigma attached to asking for help. Unnecessary barriers or dissuasive language will do exactly that, and prevent much needed funding from reaching the students who need it.
  3. Being flexible: Students regularly tell us that it means a lot when members of staff are thoughtful and endeavour to make allowances for them when they are struggling. Educators and all staff members can do this, such as by being flexible if a student cannot make it to a class because the cost of transport is preventing them from traveling. Staff can also make themselves aware of funding sources available for students and actively promote these. Whilst logistically difficult, flexibility of timetabling is consistently asked for by students who work alongside their studies, as well as those with caring responsibilities.
  4. Review hidden programme and course costs: Where these are unavoidable, ensure transparency from before students start their studies to allow them to try and budget accordingly.
  5. Explore initiatives like free Breakfast Clubs or community pantries: If running a student event, consider whether budget would stretch to providing free food, particularly if the event’s timings would result in students skipping a meal or needing to purchase food on-the-go.
  6. Advocate for local council and government policies: Our University can and should use its weight to push the local Council and the Scottish and UK Governments to keep rents in the city affordable, bring the costs of basic food items down, and expand public transport to more people.
  7. Acknowledge the impact of the crisis: Finally, on a grassroots level, acknowledging that the Cost-of-Living is having an enormous impact on students, and not assuming a certain level of wealth just because they study at this University.

Students are not consumers of education; they are the future of our society. They are the ones who will graduate into an uncertain world. Treating them as holistic individuals, by recognising their unique challenges and investing in their personal wellbeing as well as their academic success, benefits all of us. We all need to work together to ensure every student can pursue their ambitions , without financial fear.

You can listen to our recent podcast episodes on a related topic:
Student Wellbeing and the Hidden Costs of Financial Hardship (Part 1) 
Student Wellbeing and the Hidden Costs of Financial Hardship (Part 2)


photo of the authorDora Herndon

Dora Herndon (she/her) is the 2024/25 President at Edinburgh University Students’ Association. This year in her role she is focused on issues such as student housing and transportation. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh this year with a degree in Philosophy and Politics.


photo of the authorRuth Elliott

Ruth Elliott (she/her) is the 2024/25 Vice President Community at Edinburgh University Students’ Association. She works on issues that affect students outside their academic lives, focusing on housing issues, sustainability, and affordable food on campus. Her degree was in Politics, and she graduated in July.


photo of the authorSara Albakri

Sara Albakri, student at EFI is a Palestinian British artist. She uses Art as an alternative discipline to generate critical conversations on racism and inequalities. Raised in Oxford and moving to Qatar, Saras multicultural awareness and engagement with diverse perspectives, instilled a deep cultural curiosity and fascination, which is manifested in her art. Albakri’s work is identifiable through its glaring multimedia use. Throughout her projects she confidently experimented with a range of media including woodwork, textiles, sewing machines, burnt plastic, and oil paints. In this way Albakri doesn’t confine herself to a singular stylistic channel, using large scale murals and mediums to amplify social dialogue on underrepresented issues. Beyond art, Sara has been an active participant in community social justice movements and consistently seeks to  prove the value of art to transmit important societal messages.

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