The Cumulative Financial Costs of Victimization Among College Students at Minority Serving Institutions, 2021-2022

The Challenges of Safety and Transitions Study (COSTs) was funded by the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ) to study the costs of victimization amongst a cohort of first-semester college students at minority-serving institutions (MSIs). COSTs consisted of three methodological components: 1) a three-wave prospective, longitudinal survey; 2) official campus enrollment and graduation data; and 3) focus group interviews. Advancing topical knowledge regarding the consequences and costs of victimization was achieved by querying participants about 12 unique types of victimization and a variety of tangible and intangible consequences and costs associated with specific victimization incidents up to one year after victimization.
COSTs participants completed three semi-annual online surveys from the Fall 2021 semester through Fall 2022 (approximately three academic semesters). Incident-based victimization data were collected, and participants were queried about ongoing behavioral, emotional, and financial costs associated with reported victimization incidents for the duration of data collection. Survey data were supplemented in each academic semester by official enrollment and graduation data from the university in which the participant was enrolled at the start of COSTs in order to further assess academic outcomes.