Peningkatan kos sara hidup telah memberi impak kepada masyarakat, termasuk pelajar di institusi pengajian tinggi. Sehubungan itu, ia telah memberi tekanan kewangan kepada golongan pelajar terlibat dalam menjalani rutin harian sebagai pelajar di universiti. Berasaskan kerangka teori Sosioekonomi (SES), mahasiswa daripada kelompok latar belakang sosioekonomi berlainan dijangka terdedah kepada tahap tekanan kewangan yang berbeza disebabkan pengaruh konteks sosioekonomi masing-masing.  Objektif kajian ini adalah untuk mengukur tahap tekanan kewangan mahasiswa institusi pengajian tinggi awam tempatan mengikut kelompok sosioekonomi mereka. Selain itu, ia turut menganalisis respon pengurusan tekanan kewangan dalam kalangan pelajar IPTA mengikut kelompok taraf hidup mereka.  Kajian ini menggunakan teknik survei dengan melibatkan sampel berjumlah 118 pelajar tahun akhir daripada dua buah fakulti di sebuah IPTA di Lembah Kelang.  Pemilihan sampel kajian adalah dibuat secara persampelan bertujuan daripada sebuah kerangka persampelan pelajar tahun akhir daripada fakulti sasaran berjumlah 170 orang.  Data dianalisis secara deskriptif dan analisis tabulasi silang (crosstab).  Hasil kajian mendapati pelajar daripada latar belakang kelompok B40 dan M40 mempunyai tahap tekanan kewangan yang tinggi.  Manakala kelompok taraf sosioekonomi tinggi iaitu T20 cenderung mempunyai tahap tekanan kewangan yang rendah berbanding kelompok B40 dan M40. Di samping itu, kajian menemui kebanyakan mahasiswa dalam semua kelompok latar belakang sosioekonomi telah menunjukkan respon pengurusan tekanan kewangan pada tahap yang relatifnya sederhana.  Implikasi penemuan ini membuktikan pemberian bantuan kewangan secara bersasar kepada kelompok mahasiswa kategori keluarga B40 adalah wajar kerana mereka merupakan aset perubahan taraf sosiekonomi keluarga.  Implikasi ilmu menunjukkan kerangka SES relevan dalam kajian tekanan kewangan dalam kalangan kelompok sosioekonomi berbeza. 

Kata kunci:  status sosiekonomi (SES); institusi pengajian tinggi (IPT); tekanan kewangan; pengurusan; stratafikasi sosial

Abstract: The increased in the cost of living gives impact on society, including students at higher education institutions (HEIs).  Therefore, it has put financial stress on the involved students in their daily routine as the universities’ students. Based on the Socioeconomic Status theoretical framework (SES), universities’ students from different socioeconomic background groups are expected to be exposed to different level of financial stress due to the influence of their respective socioeconomic contexts.  The objective of this study is to measure the level of financial stress experienced by students of local public higher education institutions according to their socioeconomic status group.  Additionally, the study also analyses the financial stress management response among the higher education institutions (HEIs) students according to their living status groups. This study employs survey technique and involve a sample of 118 final year students from two faculties at an HEI in the Klang Valley.  The selection of study samples was made through by the purposive sampling from a sampling frame of 170 final year students of the identified faculties.    The data are analysed descriptively and cross tabulation analysis.  The findings indicate that students from the B40 and M40 groups have a high level of financial stress.  Meanwhile, the high socioeconomic groups which is T20 tends to have a low financial stress compared to the B40 and M40 groups.  In addition, the study found most students in all socioeconomic background groups have shown a relatively moderate level of financial stress response.  The implication of this finding has proved the efforts of providing targeted financial aids to HEIs students of the B40 family categories should be continued as they are the assets for their families’ socioeconomic changes.  The knowledge implication shows that SES is relevant to study financial stress among different socioeconomic groups.

Keywords: socioeconomic status (SES); higher education institution (HEI); financial stress; management; social stratification

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