The Hidden Costs: A Focused Analysis of Faculty Views on Student Emotional Support and Financial Burdens

The digitalization of higher education is commonly evaluated in terms of technological investment, yet many of its most significant costs remain invisible. This study examines faculty perceptions of two underexplored dimensions of these “hidden costs”: personal financial expenditure on digital equipment and the emotional labor involved in supporting students online. Using a sequential prioritization design, the analysis combines historical data from the SOULSS faculty survey (N = 390), which documented widespread unreimbursed financial investment, with a targeted diagnostic probe conducted in 2025 (N = 18). Faculty were asked to rate the importance of three potential institutional priorities: emotional support for students, emotional support for faculty, and dedicated budgets for digital tools. Results reveal a clear hierarchy: student emotional well-being is the dominant concern, followed by faculty mental health, while financial investment in new tools ranks lowest. These findings suggest that faculty have largely internalized the material costs of digital teaching, but experience the emotional demands of online engagement as the primary burden. The study highlights the need for institutional policies that address emotional labor and pastoral support as central components of digital transformation strategies.