Inside Higher Ed’s Student Voice survey with Generation Lab, fielded earlier this month, found that four in 10 four-year students say their institution is underresponding to digital wagering.
Wagering participation differs by gender
Three in 10 community college students said their institution was underresponding to digital wagering, compared with four in 10 at four-year institutions. The Student Voice survey included five thousand and thirty-four respondents from three hundred and ten mostly public two- and four-year institutions. The results measure students’ views of campus attention to wagering, alongside their own participation and what they know about its effects on peers.¹
Fifteen percent of respondents said they had participated in online sports betting, general prediction-market trading or other digital wagering since enrolling. Participation was higher among men: 25 percent said they had wagered, compared with nine percent of women. The survey’s measure covers several forms of digital wagering, rather than sports betting alone.¹
Students report concern and peer fallout
Among undergraduates, 45 percent of men and a third of women at least somewhat agreed that digital wagering is a problem their institution is underresponding to. Students also reported knowing peers affected by losses: 31 percent of men and a quarter of women said they knew students who had experienced financial distress or academic fallout.¹
Students who had wagered were more likely than those who had not to say their institution should take the issue more seriously: 44 percent compared with 37 percent.
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Read More →Students who had wagered were more likely than those who had not to say their institution should take the issue more seriously: 44 percent compared with 37 percent. They were also more likely to know students who had struggled because of losses, at 38 percent compared with 26 percent of nonwagering peers. These comparisons describe differences between the groups; they do not establish that wagering caused the reported difficulties.¹
Wagering respondents also report unmet basic needs
The share who said they had gone without at least one basic need in the last year was 66 percent among students who had wagered online, compared with 60 percent among those who had not. Across students overall, roughly six in 10 reported trouble affording at least one basic need, including medication or transportation. The survey figures show an association between wagering participation and reported hardship, rather than a cause-and-effect finding.¹
Prior research on adults in the United States measured different forms of digital wagering. It found that 27 percent had an account with at least one online sportsbook, while 15 percent had placed a bet on a sports event through an online prediction market. Those figures use different measures from the student survey’s participation question, which also includes general prediction-market trading and other digital wagering.¹
Most student success leaders do not track wagering as a priority
Institutional findings come from the Inside Higher Ed/Hanover Research 2026 Survey of College and University Student Success Administrators, described as due out next month. Among its 271 respondents, mostly executive-level student success administrators from two- and four-year institutions, 56 percent said their division did not view or track digital wagering as a high-priority problem. Another 24 percent said they were unsure about their institution’s approach.¹
Five percent of student success leaders reported increased student engagement with a health or counseling center related to wagering. Three percent noted a clear increase in students experiencing financial distress or academic fallout from losses, and three percent reported updates to financial literacy or orientation programming. One administrator wrote: “Students have been able to pay $10,000 of their bill from bets they have won. I believe it is a small but growing problem.”¹
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Read More →Four percent of student success leaders said student athletes or athletic programs had faced disruptions or compliance issues because of sports betting. In a 2023 survey, the National Collegiate Athletic Association found that 67 percent of college students living on campus had engaged in sports betting. More than a third of college bettors had used a student bookmaker.¹
Most student success leaders do not track wagering as a priority Institutional findings come from the Inside Higher Ed/Hanover Research 2026 Survey of College and University Student Success Administrators, described as due out next month.
Check Your Campus's Wagering Safeguards
Before you choose a college or a role near one, ask how the institution tracks digital wagering. The data shows 56 percent of student success leaders do not view or track it as a high-priority problem, and 24 percent are unsure of their approach. If you are a man, you face a higher participation rate at 25 percent versus 9 percent for women, so your risk of exposure is greater. When evaluating a campus, look for financial literacy or orientation programming that addresses wagering, since only 3 percent of leaders report updates to such efforts.¹
For your own career planning, treat online wagering as a financial risk that can affect your basic needs. Students who wagered online reported going without at least one basic need at 66 percent, compared with 60 percent of those who did not. Also, 31 percent of men and a quarter of women know peers who faced financial distress or academic fallout from losses. If you are considering a job in finance, marketing, or tech that touches prediction markets, ask about employer policies on wagering and whether your role involves handling such platforms, because your personal exposure could affect your performance and reputation.¹
Sources
Written by Career Ahead AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify key facts. Report errors to support@careeraheadonline.com
