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The Economics of Administration Action on Student   Debt

Higher education financing allows many Americans from lower- and middle-income backgrounds to invest in education. However, over the past 30 years, college tuition prices have increased faster than median incomes, leaving many Americans with large amounts of student debt that they struggle or are unable to, pay off. 

Recognizing the burden of this debt, the Biden-Harris Administration has pursued two key strategies for debt reduction and cancellation. The first, student debt relief (SDR), aims to address the ill effects of flaws in the student debt system for borrowers. The second, the SAVE plan, reforms the federal student loan system, improving student loan affordability for future students and providing current graduates with breathing room during the beginning of a new career.

This issue brief examines the factors that precipitated the current student debt landscape, and details how both SDR and SAVE will enhance the economic status of millions of Americans with student debt: enabling them to allocate more funds towards basic necessities, take career risks, start businesses, and purchase homes. This brief highlights credible research, underscoring how the Administration’s student debt relief could boost consumption in the short-term by billions of dollars and could have important impacts on borrower mental health, financial security, and outcomes such as homeownership and entrepreneurship. This brief also details how the SAVE plan makes repaying college costs more affordable for current borrowers and future generations. CEA simulations show that, under SAVE, an average borrower with a bachelor’s degree could save $20,000 in loan payments, while a borrower with an associate degree could see nearly 90 percent savings compared to the standard loan repayment plan. These changes enable more people to pursue education and contribute to the broader economy.

Why do borrowers need relief?

Over the last 20 years especially, the sticker price of college has risen significantly. Despite recent minor declines, sticker prices at public universities (which over 70% of undergraduate students in the United States attend) are 56% higher today than two decades ago. [1] While there are many reasons for this trend, the most rapid increases in tuition often occur during economic downturns as tuitions grow to fill the budgetary holes that are left when states cut their support to public colleges ( Webber, 2017 ; Deming and Walters 2018 ). This is especially problematic given many people choose to return to school during economic downturns ( Betts and MacFarland 1995 ; Hillman and Orians 2013 ). Unfortunately, contracting state appropriations have played a role in shifting the responsibility of financing away from public subsidies and toward students and families ( Turner and Barr, 2013 ; Bound et al., 2019 )–leading many students to take on more debt.

At the same time that college sticker prices have risen, the wage premium (the earnings difference between college goers and high school graduates) has not seen analogous growth. While obtaining a college degree remains a reliable entry point to the middle class, the relative earning gains for degree holders began to stagnate in the early 2000s after increasing for several decades. As shown in Figure 1b, since 2000, the wage premium for both bachelor’s degree holders and those with “some college” education (which includes anyone who enrolled in college but didn’t earn a BA) saw declines around the 2001-02 and 2008-10 recessions and a slow, inconsistent recovery thereafter. The decline is particularly notable for students who didn’t complete a four-year degree, a group that includes two-year college enrollees who have among the highest student loan default rates. [2]

Traditional economic theory tells us that individuals choose to invest in post-secondary education based on the expected costs and wage returns associated with the investment. But rapid and unforeseeable rises in prices and declines in college wage premia have contributed to decades of “unlucky” college-entry cohorts affected by a form of recessionary scarring . For example, a student who entered college in 2006 would have expected a sticker price of roughly $8,800 per year for a four-year college, but actually faced tuition of over $10,000 in their final year of college, a roughly 15% difference. This same student, upon graduation if they worked full time, would have earned about $3,500 less, on average, than what they would have expected upon entering. This example illustrates that many borrowers made sound borrowing decisions with available information, but as a result of these trends ended up with more debt than they could afford to pay off. [3] Consistent with this notion, the default rate for “unlucky” college entry cohorts of the 2000s is much higher than those of other cohorts, with undergraduate default rates doubling between 2000 and 2010: in 2017, 21 percent of undergraduate loan holders and 6 percent of graduate loan holders defaulted within 3 years ( CBO, 2020 ).

It is important to note that sticker prices for public institutions have declined 7 percent since 2021, the same period over which college wage premiums have been rising. Declining tuition, for the first time in decades, coincided with increased investment in higher education through pandemic-era legislation such as the American Rescue Plan, which allocated $40 billion in 2021 to support institutes of higher education and their students. Despite these improvements, as well as significant advances in the return on college investments over the last three years, many current borrowers still need some relief. The Administration has taken significant action to protect future cohorts from similar risks.

How the Administration is providing relief

Retrospective: Student Debt Relief Helps Existing Borrowers

In a commitment to help those who are overburdened with debt, the Administration has already approved Federal student debt cancellation for nearly 4 million Americans through various actions. Today , the Administration announced details of proposed rules that, if finalized as proposed, would provide relief to over 30 million borrowers when taken together with actions to date.

Importantly, much of this debt forgiveness comes from correcting program administration and improving regulations related to laws that were on the books before this Administration took office. This debt relief has affected borrowers from all walks of life, including nearly 900,000 Americans who have dedicated their lives to public service (such as teachers, social workers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, and others), borrowers who were misled and cheated by their institutions, and borrowers who are facing total or permanent disability, including many veterans. By relieving these borrowers of long-held, and in some cases very large burdens of debt, relief can have significant meaning and impact for borrowers, families, and their communities.

By reducing debtors’ liabilities, debt relief raises net worth (assets, including income less liabilities). Debt relief can also ease the financial burden of making payments—leading to greater disposable income for borrowers and their families, which enhances living standards and could positively influence decisions about employment, home buying, and mobility. While there are few direct estimates of the effect of debt cancelation in the literature, estimates based on the relationship between wealth and consumption suggest that this forgiveness could increase consumption by several billions of dollars each year in the next five to ten years.

Additionally, a recent study suggests that student debt cancellation can lead to increased earnings (due to greater geographic and career mobility), improved credit scores, and lower delinquency rates on other debts ( Di Maggio, Kalda, and Yao, 2019 ). This can facilitate access to capital for starting a business or buying a car or home. As home mortgages often require a certain debt-to-income ratio and depend heavily on credit scores, student debt cancellation could potentially increase home ownership. Indeed, based on the mechanical relationship between housing industry affordability standards and debt-to-income ratios, industry sources have suggested that those without student debt could afford to take out substantially larger mortgages ( Zillow, 2018 ). Other research also indicates a negative correlation between student loan debt and homeownership ( Mezza et al., 2020 ).

It is important to note that, while these pecuniary benefits are important, the benefits associated with debt relief are not merely financial. Experimental evidence has linked holding debt to heightened levels of stress and anxiety ( Drentea and Reynolds, 2012 ), worse self-reported physical health ( Sweet et al., 2013 ), and reduced cognitive capacity ( Robb et al., 2012 ; Ong et al., 2019 ). Studies also show that holding student debt can be a barrier to positive life cycle outcomes such as entrepreneurship ( Krishnan and Wang, 2019 ), and marriage ( Gicheva, 2016 ; Sieg and Wang, 2018 ). Student debt relief has the potential to improve these key outcomes for millions of borrowers.

Prospective: The SAVE Plan Helps Prevent Future Challenges

To address unaffordable education financing moving forward, the Administration has also introduced the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) loan repayment program. The SAVE plan prospectively helps student borrowers by ensuring that once they graduate, they never have to pay more than they can afford towards their student loan debt. Importantly, the SAVE plan protects borrowers from being “unlucky” by ensuring that high tuition or low earnings do not result in loan payments that borrowers can’t afford. The CEA has detailed the real benefits of SAVE for borrowers in issue briefs and blogs , underscoring that SAVE is the most affordable student loan repayment program in U.S. history. By substantially reducing monthly payment amounts compared to previous income driven repayment (IDR) plans and reducing time to forgiveness to as little as 10 years for people who borrowed smaller amounts, the SAVE plan can mean tens of thousands of dollars in real savings for borrowers over the course of repayment.

Figure 2 gives the example of two representative borrowers. Take the first, a 4-year college graduate who has $31,000 in debt and earns about $40,500 per year. Under a standard repayment plan, this borrower would pay roughly $330 dollars each month for 10 years. Under SAVE, this borrower would pay about $50 per month for the first ten years, and on average about $130 per month for the next 10 years. Over a 20-year period, this borrower would make roughly $17,500 less in payments, not accounting for inflation over that period. This represents a 56 percent reduction in total payments compared to the standard repayment plan and includes considerable loan forgiveness. Similarly, the representative 2-year college graduate has $10,000 in debt and earns about $32,000 per year. Under a standard plan, this borrower would pay $110 dollars each month for 10 years. Under SAVE, this borrower would pay $0 per month for the first two years, and under $20 per month for the next eight years before their debt is forgiven at year 10. Overall, this borrower would be responsible for roughly $11,700 less in lifetime payments, not accounting for inflation. This borrower sees nearly 90 percent savings compared to the standard plan and receives considerable loan forgiveness.

SAVE can also have benefits beyond the individual borrower. More money in borrowers’ pockets due to lower payment obligations under SAVE could boost consumption and give borrowers breathing room to make payments on other debt. This consumption effect is bolstered by a large literature documenting the benefits of easing liquidity constraints (see, for example, Aydin, 2022 ; Parker et al., 2022 ). Additionally, by shortening time to forgiveness for undergraduate borrowers, SAVE can lead to positive debt-relief outcomes (as discussed above) for many more borrowers.

Another key aspect of income-driven repayment plans like SAVE is that they protect borrowers from having to make large payments when incomes are low. Specifically, the required payments are not based on the initial loan balance, but on one’s income and household size so that those cohorts who need to borrow more to pay for college do not make larger payments unless they make more income. SAVE also protects more of a borrower’s income as discretionary and, when the full plan is implemented in Summer 2024, will limit monthly payments on undergraduate loans to 5 percent of discretionary income. In fact, for single borrowers who make less than $33,000 per year, the required monthly payments will be zero dollars. From a finance perspective, the SAVE plan provides a form of insurance against tuition spikes and economic downturns–taking some of the risk out of investing in one’s education while also bringing costs down.   

A common concern, and one that could mute these benefits, is that increases in the generosity of education financing may encourage institutions to raise tuition and fees in response, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the Bennett Hypothesis (for an excellent overview of research, see Dynarski et al., 2022 ). Theoretically, in a market when sellers are maximizing profits, any policy that increases demand will also increase prices. However, this is less likely to impact the over 70% of U.S. undergraduates who attend public colleges, which are not profit-driven and often have statutorily set tuition. Consistent with this notion, the evidence in support of the Bennett Hypothesis primarily comes from for-profit colleges, which are highly reliant on students who receive federal financial aid ( Cellini and Goldin, 2014 ; Baird et al, 2022 ). [4] Importantly, although the for-profit sector enrolls some of the country’s most vulnerable students, enrollment in the sector in 2021 accounted for only 5 percent of total undergraduate enrollment, suggesting that aggregate tuition increases in response to changes in education financing may be modest. Furthermore, the Biden-Harris Administration has taken action to crack down on for-profit colleges that take advantage of, or mislead, their students. And, recent regulations, such as the Gainful Employment ( GE ) rule, add safeguards against unaffordable debt regardless of more generous education financing. 

Although the SAVE plan stands to benefit borrowers of all backgrounds, the plan has important racial and socioeconomic equity implications because it is particularly beneficial for those borrowers with the lowest incomes. Centuries of inequities have led to Black, Hispanic, and Native households being more likely than their White peers to fall in the low end of the income distribution. This means that, mechanically, the SAVE plan’s benefits could accrue disproportionately to these groups. Indeed, using completion data from recent years, an Urban Institute analysis estimates that 59 percent of credentials earned by Black students and 53 percent of credentials earned by Hispanic students are likely to be eligible for some amount of loan forgiveness under SAVE, compared to 42 percent of credentials earned by White students ( Delisle and Cohn, 2023 ). Finally, the interest subsidy described in an August 2023 CEA blog , prevents ballooning balances when a borrower cannot cover their entire monthly interest payment, a phenomenon that has historically led to many borrowers in general, and Black borrowers in particular, to see loan balances that are higher than their original loan amount, even several years out from graduating with a bachelor’s degree ( NCES, 2023 ).

Broader economic impacts

The benefits associated with SDR and SAVE for millions of Americans are considerable. In the short run, under both SDR and SAVE, those who receive relief may be able to spend more in their communities and contribute to their local economies. Summing the likely consumption effects of the Administration’s student debt relief and SAVE programs results in billions of dollars in additional consumption annually. Despite the modest effect on the macroeconomy as a whole (note that the U.S. economy is roughly $28 trillion with a population of roughly 320 million), these consumption effects represent incredibly meaningful impacts on individual borrowers’ financial security and the economic wellbeing of their communities.

SAVE, because it brings down the cost of taking out loans to go to college, has the potential to lead to longer-term economic growth if it leads to greater educational attainment. This increased attainment can occur both through improved retention and completion of post-secondary education, and also the movement of students into college who would not have otherwise enrolled. There is a long macroeconomics literature linking educational attainment in a nation to GDP growth (see, for example, Lucas, 1988 ; Hanushek and Woesmann, 2008 ). While identifying the causal effect of schooling on GDP is challenging, researchers, using a variety of approaches, find that a one-year increase in average education (for the entire working population) would increase the real GDP level by between 5 and 12 percent ( Barro and Lee, 2013 ; Soto, 2002 ) —a result that is in line with the micro-founded relationship between years of education and earnings ( Lovenheim and Smith, 2022 ).

To put this relationship in perspective and highlight the growth potential of increasing educational attainment, the CEA simulated the hypothetical effect on GDP of increasing the college-going rate by 1, 3, and 5 percentage points, respectively. This range represents the kinds of changes in college going that have been observed over several years: the college enrollment rate for 18- to 24-year-olds declined 4 percentage points between 2011 and 2021 after increasing by 6 percentage points between 2000 and 2011 ( NCES 2023 ). CEA simulations show that by 2055, a policy that increased the college going rate by 1, 3, and 5 percentage points could increase the level of GDP in 2055 (thirty years from now) by 0.2, 0.6, and 1 percent respectively. This represents hundreds of billions of dollars of additional economic activity in the long run.

While increased growth is an exciting possibility, it would only occur insofar as SAVE leads to increased educational attainment, which is uncertain. The academic literature has found that student loans can promote academic performance ( Barr, et. al. 2021 ), and increase educational attainment by increasing transfers from 2-year to 4-year colleges and increasing college completion among enrollees ( Marx and Turner, 2019 ). At the same time, increases in college-going due to SAVE are by no means guaranteed. While, historically, policies that reduce the cost of college through direct means—such as providing students with generous grant aid, or reducing tuition—have succeeded at raising college enrollment levels ( Dynarski, 2003 ; Turner, 2011 ), a pair of recent studies show that prospective students may only respond to cost changes when they are salient, i.e., they are framed and marketed in the right way ( Dynarski et al., 2021 ), and relatively certain ( Burland et al., 2022 ). However, evidence suggests that there is demand for plans like SAVE ( Balakrishnan et al., 2024 ), particularly as SAVE can provide sizable benefits to borrowers in terms of reducing their long-term debt burden and keep monthly payments low (dependent on a borrower’s income) after they finish school.

This highlights the importance of communicating the benefits of the SAVE program to prospective students who otherwise would not enroll in college due to cost concerns, including potential barriers to paying off student loans in the future. Doing so could lead to meaningful increases in college enrollment, and the resulting improvements in productive capacity could increase the size of the U.S. economy for years to come.

Concluding remarks

The Biden-Harris Administration has taken bold action to address a student debt problem that has been decades in the making. This student debt cancellation will provide well-deserved relief for borrowers who have paid their fair share, many of whom had the proverbial rug pulled out from under them with concurrent rapidly rising tuition and declining returns to a college degree. The relief has and will improve economic health and wellbeing of those who have devoted years of their life to public service, those who were defrauded or misled by their institutions, and those who have been doing all they can to make payments, but have still seen their loan balances grow. Looking to future generations, the Administration implemented the SAVE plan to protect borrowers against tuition spikes and poorer than expected labor market outcomes that often plague students graduating into a period of economic downturn ( Rothstein, 2021 ; Schwandt and von Wachter, 2023 ).

Both student debt relief and SAVE will enhance the economic status of millions of Americans with student debt: enable them to allocate more funds towards basic necessities, take career risks, start businesses, and purchase homes with the understanding that they will never have to pay more than they can afford towards their student loans. Moreover, the SAVE plan makes repayment more affordable for future generations, which helps borrowers manage monthly payments, but also enables more people from all walks of life to explore their full potential and pursue higher education, enhancing the potential of the U.S. workforce and the economy more broadly. 

[1] In 2021, 51% of total undergraduates attended public 4-year universities and 21% attended public 2-years in 2021.

[2] The BA group excludes those with a graduate degree, or any education beyond a bachelor’s degree.

[3] Recent research shows that, despite a positive return on investment (ROI) for many, including the average student, the distribution of ROI has widened over the last several decades such that the likelihood of negative ROI is higher than it has historically been, particularly so for underrepresented minority students ( Webber 2022 ).

[4] There is also some evidence in support of the Bennett Hypothesis at the graduate level ( Black et al. 2023 ).

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Education loan repayment: a systematic literature review

• Original Article
• Open access
• Published: 05 October 2023

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• Rakshith Bhandary   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7994-0430 1 ,
• Sandeep S. Shenoy   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9848-9718 1 ,
• Ankitha Shetty   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1314-7322 1 &
• Adithya D. Shetty   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3062-2655 1  

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Education is a significant contributor to human capital. Financial assistance for education through institutional loan serves as the key element for human development, and loan repayment without default makes the education loan product self-sustainable. The systematic review aims to study the various articles related to education loan repayment (ELR) using bibliometric analysis approach and R studio software with the help of biblioshiny package. The study analyses 812 articles published in the Scopus database between 1990 and 2022. The review identifies most relevant authors, most cited articles, publication trends, keywords and themes, and trending topics. The review finds that research in the domain of ELR is at an increasing trend with a growth rate of 7.2% and, in the year 2022, the highest number of scientific publications, that is, 72 articles, was published. The review exhibits that existing research in the field has mainly focused on themes such as repayment burden, financial literacy, financial education, student debt, income, mental health, and loan defaults. The study concludes that highly cited work in educational loan repayment is in the field of medicine, highlighting salary as the key factor for educational loan repayment, and loan repayment is incentivized by the federal government to serve the designated underserved areas through service option loan repayment programs. Methods on designing and marketing new approaches to loan repayment can be researched in future with relation to human resource recruitment and retention by the employers.

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Introduction

Education loans (ELs) are an important source of financing for higher education. However, the increasing number of students’ relying on educational loans has emphasized the challenges associated with loan repayment. The concept of promoting ELs in India was first introduced in 2001 by the Indian Banks Association (IBA), which also designed the educational loan scheme. There are 864 universities, 40,026 schools, and 11,669 independent higher education institutions in India. 77.8 percentage of India's colleges are privately run, and majority are non-assisted colleges. In Indian higher education, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) is 25.2 percentage for 2016–2017, while globally, it ranges from 8 percentage in Africa to 75 percentage in Europe and North America (Nerkar and Dhongde 2018 ). Overall enrolment in Indian higher education is 1.9 crore boys and 1.6 crore girls as of 2018. The overall portfolio of ELs is about Rs. 80,000 crore, consisting mainly of scheduled commercial banks (contributing Rs. 73,000 crore), cooperative banks (Rs. 2000 crore), and non-banking financial corporations (Rs. 5000 crore) as mentioned by Nerkar and Dhongde ( 2018 ).

ELs sanctioned in India have declined by 25% over the past 5 years from 2015 to 2019 because default ratios have increased in education loan repayment (ELR). As on March 31, 2019, the sanctioned number of loans for education decreased from 3.34 to 2.5 lakh (Chitra 2019 ). The reason for the decline in ELs sanctioned is due to the increasing non-performing assets in the education loan (EL) portfolio of financial institutions. However, it may be noted that the total loan amount disbursed has increased by 34 per cent amounting to Rs. 22,550 crore in the fiscal year 2019 from Rs. 16,800 crore in the financial year 2015 (Chitra 2019 ), which indicates that banks are keen on funding high ticket education loans. Student loan borrowing is at its highest ever as of August 2022, with more than 45 million borrowers collectively owing $1.75 trillion student loan debt including private and federal loans in the USA, and the average borrowing per student is around $28,950. Federal student loan repayments have been paused, it is in forbearance from March 2020 owing to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the repayment reprieve was set to expire in May 2022 (Hahn 2023 ).

The motive to review the study on factors affecting ELR is based on the value parameters for literature reviews written by Lim et al. ( 2022a ) that highlights necessity, importance, relevance, urgency, and contribution of literature reviews. This review gives insights to future researchers to identify gaps, avoid duplicative efforts in ELR by identifying the current state and progress in ELR. This study explains the benefits to new and established scholars with an updated understanding of the field of study, and the emerging fields in ELR, and its relevance to the journals scope. There are limited reviews on ELR, and past studies have limitations since they do not address the issues caused by covid-19 pandemic.

Mukherjee et al. ( 2022 ) mentioned theoretical contributions from science mapping and practical contributions from performance analysis for bibliometric analysis. In this study, theoretical contributions are presented by clarifying nomological networks to ELR factors, mapping social patterns to understand the social process supporting knowledge development in the field, and by tracking the declining, growing, and emerging topics. It also recognizes crucial knowledge gaps for future directions. Practical contributions of this study include reporting research productivity and impact in ELR, ascertaining reach for coverage claims, identifying social dominance or hidden biases, detecting anomalies for further examination, and evaluating relative performance. The aim of the paper is to systematically review the various articles related to ELR and the factors affecting repayment.

Literature review

Studies have found that ELs are widely available and offered by various financial institutions such as banks, non-banking financial companies, and educational institutions (Rani 2016 ). The factors affecting ELRs include interest rate, type of loan—mortgage-based or income contingent, loan amount, repayment period, and financial conditions of the borrower (Ganapathy et al. 2019 ). Moreover, the attitude of the borrower was found to influence ELR (Bhandary et al. 2023 ; Ismail et al. 2011 ). Several studies have identified the major challenges faced by borrowers in repaying their ELs. These challenges include high interest rates (Miller et al. 2019 ), low repayment capacities (Ganapathy et al. 2019 ), low levels of awareness (Ganapathy et al. 2019 ), lack of job opportunities (Dutta and Dey 2019 ), and the lack of effective loan management systems (Rani 2016 ). Borrowers with limited financial resources are often unable to repay their loans due to high interest rates, which can make it difficult for them to manage their finances (Chaudhary and Kaur 2018 ). In addition, lack of job opportunities makes it difficult for borrowers to repay their loans as they may not have a steady income (Dutta and Dey 2019 ).

EL programs vary across different countries in the world in terms of organizational structure, underlying objective, initial funding sources, loan application procedures, student coverage, and the collection methods (Ziderman 2004 ). Government-subsidized EL schemes are available in 70 countries across the world (Shen and Ziderman 2009 ). Prior research has suggested many factors in the background of educational loans, concerning non-repayment by borrowers. Such considerations include history of borrowers, amount of loan borrowed, instability of employment and wages, form of repayment, academic experience, institutional characteristics, income, and education of parents (Lochner et al. 2013 ). The same study mentioned financial instability as the biggest barrier to loan repayment. Rani ( 2016 ) suggested that scholarships, fees, grants, and ELs need to be re-evaluated in the context of increasing costs to design better schemes for higher education.

This study has implications for bank marketing for recouping the money spent on EL. Prospective authors can examine consumer behaviour towards banks and financial service providers as per the gap analysed by Kumar et al. ( 2022b ), and ways forward on personal financial management is encouraged given the impact of covid-19 pandemic on consumer finances. In the study by Baker et al. ( 2023 ), financial fragility is negatively associated with financial well-being, and loan repayment has implications on financial well-being of young adults. In the study by Tavares et al. ( 2023 ), individuals presented greater levels of financial literacy perception compared to actual knowledge of financial literacy. She et al. ( 2023 ) mentioned the lack of research articles in interventions to improve young adults’ financial well-being and found limited consensus on a conclusive measure for young adults’ financial well-being. Contributions of this study have implications on young adults’ financial well-being, safeguarding the financial well-being of young adults’ in areas such as financial fragility and financial literacy. The systematic review aims to evaluate and synthesize the existing research on EL programs in various countries around the world, with a focus on the current state of ELR, challenges faced by borrowers, and measures taken to overcome these challenges. Hence, we frame the following research questions.

What is the publication trend in ELR research?

Which are the most influential articles contributing to ELR research?

Who are the top prolific authors in ELR research?

What are the major themes and topics studied in ELR research?

What is the future scope of research in ELR research?

This systematic review uses bibliometric analysis using biblioshiny package in R Language to understand the trends in publication and to uncover the future research directions. Biblioshiny is a data visualization tool developed in R language by Aria and Cuccurullo ( 2017 ) to perform bibliometric analysis. The study follows the method of evidence informed management knowledge for systematic review (Tranfield et al. 2003 ). Eligibility and screening evaluation observed PICO (Participants, Interventions, Comparisons and Outcomes), and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analysis) guidelines. The data collection stage encompassed selecting the database, extracting literature with inclusion- exclusion criteria, exporting the extracted data to biblioshiny, and filtering the articles. The data search was conducted on the Scopus database because of its large coverage as compared to web of science (Mongeon and Paul-Hus 2016 ).

The fundamental elements of literature reviews as independent studies are adopted from the guidelines prepared by Kraus et al. ( 2022 ) for systematic literature reviews. The interrogative approach of “what” “why” “when” “where” “who” and “how” prescribed by Paul et al. ( 2021 ) in Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) is used as a tool guide in this study. The bibliometric data were analysed using the three stage sensemaking approach of scanning the data, sensing the data and substantiating the findings developed by Lim and Kumar ( 2023 ).

The search string combinations and Boolean operators used are TITLE-ABSTRACT-KEYWORD ("education*" OR "student*" AND "loan*" OR "debt*" AND "payment*" OR "repayment*" OR "instalment*") AND PUBLICATION YEAR > 1989 AND PUBLICATION YEAR < 2023 AND (LIMIT-TO (PUBLICATION STAGE, "final")) AND (LIMIT-TO (DOCUMENT TYPE, "article") OR LIMIT-TO (DOCUMENT TYPE, "book chapter") OR LIMIT-TO (DOCUMENT TYPE, "review") OR LIMIT-TO (DOCUMENT TYPE, "conference paper") OR LIMIT-TO (DOCUMENT TYPE, "book")) AND (LIMIT-TO (LANGUAGE, "english")). Finally, 812 articles were extracted from Scopus in csv format and exported to biblioshiny for analysis. Articles, book chapters, reviews, conference papers, and books were included after excluding editorial letters, notes, and short surveys from the data in biblioshiny as shown in Fig.  1 . The inclusion exclusion criteria followed the PRISMA protocol introduced by Moher et al. ( 2009 ) and 38 records were included for the bibliometric study.

Review process for ELR research based on the PRISMA protocol

The study applied bibliometric analysis to provide an overview of the research in the field of ELR. Bibliometric analysis toolbox by Donthu et al. ( 2021 ) prescribes performance analysis and science mapping for bibliometric result analysis. Performance analysis techniques used in this study are descriptive analysis and citation analysis. The science mapping method included in our study is keyword co-occurrence analysis. The study results have been discussed in the below sections.

Annual scientific production

Figure  2 illustrates the research and publication trend from 1990 to 2022. The figure depicts rapid growth in the publication since 2009 and the compounded annual growth rate is 7.2%. From 1990 to 2006, there was a slow-paced growth in the research field. After 2009, there was a surge in publications demonstrating the growing interest among research scholars. The total number of publications ( n ) from 1990 to 2022 yielded 812 documents; 93.58% were published between 2009 and 2022. The year 2022 has the highest number of publications ( n  = 72). The statistics of annual scientific production show that ELR has emerged as a significant research theme.

Most relevant authors and authors’ impact

Figure  3 shows the most relevant authors. Chapman has published the highest number of documents (15 articles). The second highest work in ELR is done by Pathman, with 13 articles. Table 1 displays the top 20 most relevant authors, author impact, and total citations received. Ley has been cited more than 300 times. Chapman has the highest h -index of 9.

Most relevant authors

Citation analysis

The top 10 globally cited documents are given in Table 2 . The article by Ley and Rosenberg ( 2005 ) found that physician scientists play a crucial role in medical research and were declining in number with increased indebtedness of medical graduates due to rising tuition fees. The study highlights ELR as an obstacle to pursue medical research careers. Rosenblatt et al. ( 2006 ) found that the major barrier in physician recruitment to community health centres was low salaries and recruitment was heavily dependent on NHSC scholarships and state loan repayment programs. Loan repayment for community service in the designated shortage areas was used as an incentive to entice physicians to work in the underserved areas (Pathman et al. 2004 ). Medical residents reported symptoms of stress, depression, increased cynicism, and decreased humanism owing to their association with increased EL debt and sought for legislative relief from early loan repayment (Collier et al. 2002 ). State ELR programs for health workers return of service in underserved areas with minimum service requirements were found to alleviate health worker shortage in underserved areas (Barnighausen and Bloom 2009 ). Skillman et al. ( 2010 ) suggested loan repayment programs to be provided for increased participation in oral healthcare in rural America.

Education debt below $10,000 was found to support college completion and above $10,000 was found to reduce the likelihood of college completion (Dwyer et al. 2012 ) which indicates that amount of loan is a significant factor affecting ELR. In the study by Brown et al. ( 2016 ), it was found that mathematics and financial education among students improves loan repayment behaviour. Walsemann et al. ( 2015 ) studied the mental health of indebted young adults with student loan borrowings and found that the presence of student loans was associated with poor psychological functioning having possible spill over effects like occupational trajectories affecting loan repayment at a later stage. O'Neill et al. ( 2005 ) found that participation in credit counselling programs improves health and financial behaviours.

Word cloud analysis

Figure  4 displays the word cloud analysis, keywords such as higher education, student debt, financial literacy, financial education, human capital, financial aid, loan forgiveness, indebtedness, student loan default, and repayment burdens. Researchers can use these words to find the most relevant articles in ELR.

Co-occurrence network

The co-occurrence network shows the major themes related to student loans. In total, the co-occurrence analysis of keywords revealed six knowledge clusters. The explanation for each cluster is based on sensemaking. Sensemaking is a process of arranging keywords in clusters to convey a coherent narrative (Lim et al 2022b ; Kumar et al 2022a ). The six knowledge clusters are identified under.

Repayment burdens following higher education financing through student loans

The co-occurrence of keywords in cluster one investigates “repayment burdens” and “loan defaults” in “student loans” following “higher education financing”. The “policy” support and “financial aid” are also grouped together since they contribute towards “human capital”.

Loan repayment in pursuit of higher education

The “indebtedness” towards “student debt” and “loan repayment” in pursuit of “higher education” is grouped in cluster two.

Financial literacy through financial education

The third cluster examines “financial literacy” through “financial education” and its relation to “student loan debt”.

National health service corps healthcare support programs in service repayment options

The fourth cluster investigates “national health service corps” incentives, aid to “medical education” and “workforce” to contribute towards “rural health” and “primary care”.

Student debts and income

The sixth cluster examines the relation between “students” and various “debt” of students including “consumer credit” and the different sources of “income” while studying the course.

Student financial aid for educational finance

The sixth cluster examines the various “student financial aid” available to “finance education”.

The links between various clusters are highlighted to show the different areas of study and the interlink between them in Fig.  5 .

Thematic map

Co-word analysis of author keywords identifies trending topics in the field. The thematic map was analysed using the technique mentioned by Cobo et al. ( 2011 ). The trending topics in student loans are identified based on the central-density diagram. Figure  6 shows the four quadrants as per the clusters of keywords based on centrality and density along the X - and Y -axis that are discussed below.

Thematic map (co-word analysis)

Motor theme: The themes of the first quadrant are well-advanced with high centrality and density. There are few motor themes such as “national health service corps”, “workforce”, “loan repayment”, “education debt” and “career”.

Niche themes: Second quadrant themes are with high density and low centrality. They are well-developed and specialized themes but are minimal compared to the overall field. “Mental health” and “housing affordability” are the noted themes in this quadrant.

Peripheral themes: The third quadrant consists declining themes with low density and low centrality. This quadrant includes declining themes such as “financial inclusion”, “student financial aid” and “educational finance”.

Basic themes: These themes under the fourth quadrant have high centrality and low density. They include “student loan”, “higher education” and “student debt”.

Discussions and implications

Key implications are discussed based on the identified cluster of themes and the trending topics.

Scholarships and loan repayment programs by the federal government were mentioned as a prominent factor among medical professionals affecting the ELR program (Ley and Rosenberg 2005 ; Rosenblatt et al. 2006 ). Citation analysis in educational loan repayment in the field of medicine highlighted “salary” as the key factor for ELR, and repayment had to be incentivized by the federal government to serve in the designated underserved areas by service option loan repayment programs (Barnighausen and Bloom 2009 ; Collier et al. 2002 ; Ley and Rosenberg 2005 ; Pathman et al. 2004 ; Rosenblatt et al. 2006 ; Skillman et al. 2010 ). Several states offered financial incentives and ELR programs for healthcare education (Pathman et al. 2013 ).

National Health Service Corps (NHSC) offers student loan repayment programs for physician assistants and nurse practitioners in exchange for 2 years of service with an option to renew the contract after 2 years (Pathman et al. 2014 ). The loan repayment programs (LRP) of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) have provided critical recruitment and retention incentives (Pathman et al. 2022 ), and the NHSC LRP experience by clinicians in all domains was generally positive (Pathman et al. 2019 ).

Brown et al. ( 2016 ) found that financial and mathematical education improves repayment behaviour of students. It can be inferred that financial education is a factor affecting ELR. Bhatia and Singh ( 2023 ) reported that acquiring financial knowledge and developing positive financial attitude and adopting healthy financial behaviour are important to attain financial well-being. Anand and Mishra ( 2022 ) constructed a nonlinear model using vector machine classifier that classifies potential customers into good and bad class, based on their positive and negative savings behaviour, and concluded that behavioural characteristics along with income level and financial literacy can be used to understand financial distress among millennials. Steep instalment plans which have higher initial repayments as compared to flat instalment plans increase the borrowers focus on making repayments as per the study by Dezső et al. ( 2022 ) which implies instalment plan as a factor affecting ELR.

Mental health of young adults was affected by student loan borrowing having possible spillover effects that affect loan repayment (Walsemann et al. 2015 ). Income contingent loan reforms were suggested by Chapman ( 2006 ) as a much-needed reform in higher education financing. He studied the various income contingent loan repayment schemes in Yale, Sweden, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand and The Republic of South Korea and found that income contingent scheme is a factor that positively supports ELR as compared to mortgage-based loan repayment programs. Borrowing is considered less risky and reduces the impact of loan aversion by participants in the income contingent loan repayment method when compared to mortgage style repayments (Boatman et al. 2022 ). Income contingent repayment methods reduce the financial hardships of borrowers as compared to mortgage-based repayment systems (Barr et al. 2019 ; Cai et al. 2019 ; Chapman and Dearden 2017 ). Simulated EL scheme models for Brazil (Dearden and Nascimento 2019 ) and Ireland (Chapman and Doris 2019 ) favoured income contingent schemes as compared to mortgage-based schemes by reducing the repayment burden on borrowers.

Perception of service quality in banks improves by enhancing customer satisfaction and customer engagement (Ananda et al. 2022 ), which implies that EL borrowers’ engagement with bankers, and increase in borrowers’ satisfaction level with EL service providers improves borrowers’ perception of banks service quality. The study by Zwier ( 2021 ) suggests practitioners to add insurance-based marketing in their products marketing mix to create value added products. On similar lines, insurance-based marketing can be applied to add value in marketing ELs. Educational courses contribute significantly in providing financial resources to the universities as compared to conferences, seminars, consultancy and scientific research (AL-Ghaswyneh 2020 ). The study suggests universities to give more attention to educational courses in their university plans and policies to increase the financial resources implying universities to market ELs along with other stakeholders to increase the universities financial resources.

In the article by Dwyer et al. ( 2012 ), the quantum of loan was a significant factor affecting ELR. The article mentioned the threshold loan amount in the USA as $10,000, above which, loan repayment was likely to be defaulted by non-completion of the course. Banks should strengthen their human capital efficiency and structure capital efficiency should be taken into consideration to strengthen their competitive advantage and gain higher market share (Van Nguyen and Lu 2023 ). In the same study, it was found that intellectual capital fosters the competitive nature of banks and ensures growth and development of banks. EL schemes for developing human capital with service repayment options by banks have to be designed and marketed for students with high intellectual capabilities willing to serve the banks in order to strengthen the banking industry. EL products can be tailor made with partial or full repayment waivers and used as a recruitment tool by banks for students identified with proven intellectual capabilities and commitment to serve the banking sector for a certain duration.

Contributions of our study also have implications on young adults’ financial well-being and safeguarding the financial well-being of young adults’ including areas such as financial fragility and financial literacy.

Ways forward

The contribution of NHSC towards healthcare in underserved areas can be studied further to quantify the healthcare development of underserved areas. The threshold amount of the loan, above which, the repayment is likely to be defaulted, can be studied in developed, developing and under developed countries. Mental health of young adults with student loan borrowing can be researched further in different fields of study other than medicine. Cost–benefit analysis on borrowers who availed mortgage-based repayment, with borrowers who availed income contingent repayment can be researched. Safeguarding the financial well-being of young adults can be studied to explore the relationship of financial literacy and financial fragility with the well-being of student loan borrowers.

Future research can focus on designing new approaches to loan repayment that can be used as a tool for human resource recruitment and retention by the employers, with employers paying a part or full amount of the loan based on the tenure of service. Further research is needed to find innovative design and implementation techniques in mortgage-based and income contingent payment methods.

Conclusions

Key takeaways.

This review aimed at studying the factors affecting ELR by systematically reviewing articles and using technology powered solutions to visualize the output with the help of R studio. This study provides an overview of the current state of ELR and the challenges faced by borrowers in repaying their loans. The review highlights the measures taken to overcome these challenges, such as implementing effective loan management systems, increasing awareness about the loan repayment process, and providing job opportunities to borrowers. ELR in the field of medicine highlights salary as the key factor for educational loan repayment and repayment must be incentivized by the government to work in the designated underserved areas by service option loan repayment programs. EL needs to be marketed by universities to increase their financial resources. EL can be custom designed based on identified intellectual capabilities of borrowers and marketed by banks to increase the human capital and recruit the intellectuals with service repayment options by employers to strengthen the banking industry. Insurance can be coupled and marketed with EL as a value-added product for the beneficiaries. In sum, this technology-enabled systematic literature review using R studio on ELR from articles indexed in Scopus database has delivered on its research objectives and its specific research questions pertaining to the performance analysis and science mapping of the field.

Limitations and future review directions

This review has the following limitations. The bibliometric data are retrieved from a single database, that is, Scopus. Though the usage of Scopus is justified as per prior studies (Donthu et al. 2021 ; Lim et al. 2022b ), the study cannot completely discount the possibility of uncovering new insights on ELR documents indexed in other databases like web of science. Thus, future review can focus on ELR articles using web of science as a cross-check mechanism to either support or contradict the generalizability of the findings in this review.

This study uses bibliometric analysis techniques such as performance analysis and science mapping. Though this review accomplishes the listed objectives, it is important to note that other types of reviews can still be conducted. In this regard, future research can consider analysing using new science mapping methods and performance analysis techniques. This study uses R studio for Bibliometric analysis. The bibliometric studies in future research can focus on using other data visualization software applications such as VOSviewer and Gephi by combining bibliometric analysis with network visualization software (Donthu et al. 2021 ).

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Higher Education — Student Loan Debt

Student Loan Debt Essays

Student loan debt essay topics and outline examples, essay title 1: the impact of student loan debt on higher education.

Thesis Statement: The growing burden of student loan debt has far-reaching consequences, affecting not only individual borrowers but also the accessibility and affordability of higher education in the United States.

• Introduction
• Rising Student Loan Debt Levels
• Barriers to Accessing Higher Education
• The Impact on Career Choices and Financial Stability
• Potential Solutions and Policy Reforms

Essay Title 2: The Psychological and Emotional Toll of Student Loan Debt

Thesis Statement: Student loan debt can take a severe psychological and emotional toll on borrowers, affecting their mental health, relationships, and overall well-being.

• The Stress and Anxiety Associated with Debt
• Impact on Personal Relationships and Life Choices
• Strategies for Coping with Student Loan Debt Stress
• The Need for Mental Health Support

Essay Title 3: Exploring Solutions to the Student Loan Debt Crisis

Thesis Statement: Addressing the student loan debt crisis requires a multifaceted approach, including policy reforms, financial literacy education, and innovative repayment options, to provide relief for borrowers and future generations.

• Policies Aimed at Reducing Student Loan Debt
• Empowering Borrowers Through Financial Education
• Innovative Repayment Plans and Loan Forgiveness Programs
• Ensuring Affordability and Accessibility of Higher Education

10 Student Loan Debt Essay Topics

Exploring solutions to the student loan debt crisis is crucial for mitigating the financial burden on graduates and ensuring access to higher education. The following essay topics delve into various facets of this issue, presenting opportunities for problem-solution exploration:

• The Role of Federal Policy in Mitigating Student Loan Debt
• Innovative Repayment Plans.
• Private Sector Solutions for Student Loan Debt
• Educational Reform for Affordable Tuition
• Financial Literacy and Student Loan Debt
• Community and Technical Colleges as a Solution to High Student Loan Debt
• The Impact of Scholarship Expansion on Student Loan Debt
• Bankruptcy Law Reforms to Address Student Loan Debt
• Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program Enhancements
• Technology-Based Solutions for Student Loan Management

Student loan debt in the United States has reached unprecedented levels, with millions of Americans grappling with the financial and emotional strain of repaying their education loans. This crisis not only hampers individual financial growth but also has broader economic implications, restricting consumer spending and contributing to wealth inequality.

Problem-solution essays on student loan debt offer a platform to investigate the roots of this issue and propose innovative solutions. From federal policy reforms to grassroots financial literacy programs, these essays explore multifaceted approaches to alleviate the student loan debt burden. By examining successful case studies and drawing on expert analyses, students can present comprehensive strategies that address both the immediate challenges of loan repayment and the systemic issues of higher education financing. Through such discourse, we can begin to envision a future where higher education is accessible and affordable for all, free from the shackles of debilitating debt. For those looking for problem solution essay examples offered free , ample resources are available to guide and inspire comprehensive solutions.

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Apprenticeships as a Solution to Skills Gap, Student Debt, and Career Dead Ends

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The Student Loan Problem in America and Ways to Solve It

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The Issue of African American College Students Loan Debt

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Student loan debt refers to the financial obligation incurred by individuals who borrow funds specifically for educational purposes. It is a type of debt that students accumulate to cover the costs of tuition, fees, books, and living expenses during their pursuit of higher education. Student loan debt typically consists of borrowed money from government-based programs or private lending institutions, which students must repay over a specified period of time, often with interest.

Student loan debt in the United States has reached staggering levels and has become a pressing issue in today's society. As of recent data, the total student loan debt in the US exceeds trillions of dollars, making it one of the largest sources of debt for Americans. Many factors contribute to the current state of student loan debt, including rising tuition costs, limited access to grants and scholarships, and the increasing number of students pursuing higher education. The burden of student loan debt has far-reaching consequences for individuals and the economy as a whole. Many borrowers struggle to make timely repayments, leading to financial strain, delayed milestones such as homeownership or starting a family, and limited career choices. The ripple effects extend to the broader economy, affecting consumer spending, saving rates, and overall economic growth. Efforts to address the student loan debt crisis are underway, including income-driven repayment plans, loan forgiveness programs, and increased financial literacy initiatives. However, the magnitude of the problem necessitates further attention and comprehensive solutions to ensure that higher education remains accessible and affordable while mitigating the long-term impact of student loan debt on individuals and society.

Student loan debt has a significant historical context that spans several decades. The roots of the issue can be traced back to the mid-20th century when higher education became increasingly expensive, leading to a surge in the need for student loans. In the United States, the establishment of the Federal Student Aid program in the 1960s aimed to provide financial assistance to students pursuing higher education. However, the situation evolved over time, and the accumulation of student loan debt became a pressing concern. During the 1980s and 1990s, tuition fees continued to rise, and the availability of federal grants decreased. As a result, students increasingly relied on loans to finance their education. The early 2000s witnessed a further expansion of the student loan market, with private lenders entering the scene alongside the government-backed loans. This expansion brought about changes in lending practices and the increasing burden of debt on students.

The influence of student loan debt extends beyond the individual level and has a profound impact on various aspects of society. Firstly, it affects the financial well-being of borrowers, often causing stress, limited financial freedom, and delayed milestones such as homeownership or retirement savings. The burden of debt can also impact mental health, creating anxiety and depression among borrowers. On a broader scale, student loan debt influences the economy. High levels of debt can hinder consumer spending and savings rates, affecting economic growth. Graduates burdened with student loans may delay or forego major life decisions, such as starting a business or pursuing advanced degrees, which can impede innovation and entrepreneurial activities. Moreover, student loan debt exacerbates social and economic inequalities. Those from disadvantaged backgrounds may face additional challenges in accessing higher education due to financial constraints, widening the opportunity gap. The burden of debt can also perpetuate intergenerational poverty, as individuals struggle to accumulate wealth and provide for future generations.

Public opinion on student loan debt is multifaceted and varies among individuals. However, there are some common themes that emerge. Many people acknowledge the growing concern surrounding student loan debt and the challenges it poses for borrowers. There is a general recognition that the rising cost of education and the increasing reliance on loans have created a significant burden for students and graduates. Public opinion is often divided on the responsibility of borrowers versus the role of educational institutions and the government. Some argue that borrowers should take personal responsibility for their loans, while others believe that the education system and policymakers should be held accountable for the affordability and accessibility of higher education. There is growing support for measures aimed at addressing student loan debt, such as loan forgiveness programs, income-based repayment plans, and efforts to lower interest rates. Many individuals believe that these initiatives can provide relief to borrowers and alleviate the financial stress associated with student loans.

1. As of 2021, the total student loan debt in the United States exceeds $1.7 trillion, making it the second-largest consumer debt category after mortgages. 2. Approximately 45 million Americans carry student loan debt, with an average debt per borrower of around $38,000. 3. The average monthly student loan payment for borrowers aged 20 to 30 is $393, which can significantly impact their financial stability and ability to save or invest. 4. Student loan debt is not only prevalent among recent graduates. Around 14% of borrowers are over the age of 50, often carrying debt from their own education or supporting their children's education. 5. Student loan default rates remain a concern. As of 2021, the federal student loan default rate was around 9%, indicating the financial challenges faced by some borrowers. 6. High levels of student loan debt can hinder homeownership rates. Studies suggest that the burden of student loans can delay or deter individuals from purchasing homes, impacting the housing market. 7. Certain professions, such as doctors and lawyers, often accumulate substantial student loan debt due to the extended education required for their careers.

The topic of student loan debt is of paramount importance as it addresses a pressing financial and societal issue that affects millions of individuals in the United States. Writing an essay on student loan debt allows us to delve into the multifaceted consequences it poses on borrowers and the broader economy. The staggering amount of outstanding debt, coupled with rising tuition costs, presents a significant barrier to accessing higher education and achieving economic mobility. Furthermore, the burden of student loan debt impacts borrowers' financial well-being, hindering their ability to save, invest, and contribute to the economy. Exploring the public's opinion, representation in media, and potential policy solutions can provide valuable insights into the urgency of addressing this crisis. By discussing student loan debt, we foster a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by borrowers and encourage dialogues that may lead to effective measures for easing this financial strain and supporting the pursuit of education.

1. Akers, B., & Chingos, M. M. (2014). Is a student loan crisis on the horizon? The Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/research/is-a-student-loan-crisis-on-the-horizon/ 2. Baum, S., & O'Malley, M. (2003). College on credit: How borrowers perceive their education debt. The College Board. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED494509.pdf 3. Dynarski, S. M. (2014). Building the stock of college-educated labor. Journal of Labor Economics, 32(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1086/674012 4. Houle, J. N. (2014). Disparities in debt: Parents' socioeconomic resources and young adult student loan debt. Sociology of Education, 87(1), 53-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040713514014 5. Jackson, K. M. (2018). The impact of student loan debt on job satisfaction outcomes. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 48(1), 29-52. https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-456X.1018 6. Litten, L. H., & Ackerman, D. B. (2019). A comprehensive approach to student loan debt counseling. Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 30(1), 43-57. https://doi.org/10.1891/1052-3073.30.1.43 7. Looney, A., & Yannelis, C. (2015). A crisis in student loans? How changes in the characteristics of borrowers and in the institutions they attended contributed to rising loan defaults. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2015(1), 1-89. https://doi.org/10.1353/eca.2015.0001 8. Lusardi, A., Schneider, D. J., & Tufano, P. (2011). Financially fragile households: Evidence and implications. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2011(2), 83-134. https://doi.org/10.1353/eca.2011.0016 9. Scott-Clayton, J. (2019). The looming student loan default crisis is worse than we thought. Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-looming-student-loan-default-crisis-is-worse-than-we-thought/ 10. Zafar, B. (2013). Borrowing constraints and the returns to schooling. Annual Review of Economics, 5(1), 347-365. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-072412-133425

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The Distributional Effects of Student Loan Forgiveness

We study the distributional consequences of student debt forgiveness in present value terms, accounting for differences in repayment behavior across the earnings distribution. Full or partial forgiveness is regressive because high earners took larger loans, but also because, for low earners, balances greatly overstate present values. Consequently, forgiveness would benefit the top decile as much as the bottom three deciles combined. Blacks and Hispanics would also benefit substantially less than balances suggest. Enrolling households who would benefit from income-driven repayment is the least expensive and most progressive policy we consider.

We are grateful to Scott Baker, John Barrios, Vadim Elenev, Caroline Hoxby, Adam Looney, Holger Mueller, David Thesmar, Anne Villamil and Eric Zwick for helpful comments, seminar participants at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the Virtual Finance Seminar, the Moscow Higher School of Economics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Congressional Budget Office as well as Greg Tracey for superb research assistance. Catherine thanks the Cynthia and Bennett Golub Endowment for financial support. Yannelis gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other organization, nor the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

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• December 2, 2020
• December 10, 2020

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Gen Z wants student loan forgiveness without any accountability. It doesn't work that way.

Blanket cancellation does nothing to combat the problem of the student loan crisis. it would only serve as a further incentive for students to attend colleges they can’t afford..

My generation has a political problem. We gravitate toward quick fixes for massive problems that plague our country. The generation raised on instant gratification, to little surprise, is looking for the same in politics and government.

On no other issue is this more apparent than the student loan crisis. Rather than targeting the root of the problem of federally subsidized student loans, President Joe Biden has instead pushed forward the Band-Aid fix of blanket student debt cancellation in order to score a cheap political win with America's youth. 

On the 2020 campaign trail, candidate Biden championed his plan to "immediately cancel a minimum of $10,000 of student debt per person." That empty promise appears to have worked the first time around, as he captured 65% of the Gen Z vote , compared with Trump’s 31%.

So is it any surprise that Biden's promise to eliminate student debt went on to be one of his administration's major policy moves? That might be why 77% of voters ages 18-29 said student debt relief was a motivating factor for their turnout in the midterm elections.

Gen Z's support for Biden's student debt plan is maddening

On the issue of student loans, Gen Z broadly favors blanket debt cancellation similar to Biden’s proposed plan. Almost 60% of those born in 1997 or later support the plan that has since been struck down by the Supreme Court , compared with just 46% of all voters in swing states.

Maddeningly enough, that same Bloomberg News/Morning Consult survey reveals Gen Z is far less literate on the details of the plan than other generations, with 42% reporting they had heard “not much” or “not at all” of the plan, compared with just 30% of all other voters in swing states.

Why I'm not voting: I'm not voting for Trump or Biden. You want my vote? Choose better candidates.

I struggle to come up with a term to describe my generation on this issue besides “entitled.” Not only are we broadly in favor of other people paying off our debts, a majority of whom do not hold a bachelor's degree or higher, we don’t even have the decency to be more aware of the issue than generations that are more likely to have already paid off their loans.

A sobering truth for young Americans needs to be heard. You do not have the right to demand other people pay off your poor financial decisions. 

Gen Z should push Congress to find a long-term solution

Biden’s plan was not only unwise but also unconstitutional at its core, as highlighted by the Supreme Court when it struck down the plan last June . While I think this course of action is unwise and immoral, Gen Z has a better chance of accomplishing debt relief through Congress, which is responsible for the power of the purse.

Gen Z isn't going away: Don't believe the narrative that Gen Z will vote Biden. My generation is up for grabs.

Blanket cancellation does nothing to combat the problem of the student loan crisis. In fact, it would only serve as a further incentive for students to attend colleges they can’t afford, obtaining degrees that give them little chance of allowing them to pay off the debt they accrued in the process.

Congressional efforts are much better geared toward legislation curtailing the federal student lending programs that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.

The problem is federal involvement in student loans

Our government’s involvement in the student debt crisis is clearly unacceptable. Federal lending programs now offer aid to the vast majority of students.

A 2017 study from the Federal Reserve indicates that for every dollar of federal student loans an institution receives, it's able to raise the cost of attendance by 60 cents. 

In a time when 37% of graduates report being unable to afford their monthly loan repayment , a short-term fix like cancellation will do nothing to prevent future generations from suffering the same fate. Young voters should look to other methods to sway their vote for actual change on the issue, not false promises attempting to bribe them. 

Gen Z should concentrate our efforts on voting for candidates who promise actual change on the issue, or better yet, take personal responsibility for financial decisions. Understanding your financial decision in attending college, rather than blaming politicians for not stealing other people’s money to pay your debt, is a much better use of your time and will lead to better results for your future. 

Dace Potas is an Opinion fellow for USA TODAY. A graduate from DePaul University with a degree in political science, he's also president of  the Lone Conservative , the largest conservative student-run publication in the country .

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Fall 2024 CSCI Special Topics Courses

Cloud computing.

Meeting Time: 09:45 AM‑11:00 AM TTh  Instructor: Ali Anwar Course Description: Cloud computing serves many large-scale applications ranging from search engines like Google to social networking websites like Facebook to online stores like Amazon. More recently, cloud computing has emerged as an essential technology to enable emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and Machine Learning. The exponential growth of data availability and demands for security and speed has made the cloud computing paradigm necessary for reliable, financially economical, and scalable computation. The dynamicity and flexibility of Cloud computing have opened up many new forms of deploying applications on infrastructure that cloud service providers offer, such as renting of computation resources and serverless computing.    This course will cover the fundamentals of cloud services management and cloud software development, including but not limited to design patterns, application programming interfaces, and underlying middleware technologies. More specifically, we will cover the topics of cloud computing service models, data centers resource management, task scheduling, resource virtualization, SLAs, cloud security, software defined networks and storage, cloud storage, and programming models. We will also discuss data center design and management strategies, which enable the economic and technological benefits of cloud computing. Lastly, we will study cloud storage concepts like data distribution, durability, consistency, and redundancy. Registration Prerequisites: CS upper div, CompE upper div., EE upper div., EE grad, ITI upper div., Univ. honors student, or dept. permission; no cr for grads in CSci. Complete the following Google form to request a permission number from the instructor ( https://forms.gle/6BvbUwEkBK41tPJ17 ).

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Machine learning for healthcare: concepts and applications.

Meeting Time: 11:15 AM‑12:30 PM TTh  Instructor: Yogatheesan Varatharajah Course Description: Machine Learning is transforming healthcare. This course will introduce students to a range of healthcare problems that can be tackled using machine learning, different health data modalities, relevant machine learning paradigms, and the unique challenges presented by healthcare applications. Applications we will cover include risk stratification, disease progression modeling, precision medicine, diagnosis, prognosis, subtype discovery, and improving clinical workflows. We will also cover research topics such as explainability, causality, trust, robustness, and fairness.

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Meeting Time: 04:00 PM‑05:15 PM TTh  Instructor: Qianwen Wang Course Description: This course aims to investigate how visualization techniques and AI technologies work together to enhance understanding, insights, or outcomes.

This is a seminar style course consisting of lectures, paper presentation, and interactive discussion of the selected papers. Students will also work on a group project where they propose a research idea, survey related studies, and present initial results.

This course will cover the application of visualization to better understand AI models and data, and the use of AI to improve visualization processes. Readings for the course cover papers from the top venues of AI, Visualization, and HCI, topics including AI explainability, reliability, and Human-AI collaboration.    This course is designed for PhD students, Masters students, and advanced undergraduates who want to dig into research.

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Visualizations for Intelligent AR Systems

Meeting Time: 04:00 PM‑05:15 PM MW  Instructor: Zhu-Tian Chen Course Description: This course aims to explore the role of Data Visualization as a pivotal interface for enhancing human-data and human-AI interactions within Augmented Reality (AR) systems, thereby transforming a broad spectrum of activities in both professional and daily contexts. Structured as a seminar, the course consists of two main components: the theoretical and conceptual foundations delivered through lectures, paper readings, and discussions; and the hands-on experience gained through small assignments and group projects. This class is designed to be highly interactive, and AR devices will be provided to facilitate hands-on learning.    Participants will have the opportunity to experience AR systems, develop cutting-edge AR interfaces, explore AI integration, and apply human-centric design principles. The course is designed to advance students' technical skills in AR and AI, as well as their understanding of how these technologies can be leveraged to enrich human experiences across various domains. Students will be encouraged to create innovative projects with the potential for submission to research conferences.

Registration Prerequisites: Complete the following Google form to request a permission number from the instructor ( https://forms.gle/Y81FGaJivoqMQYtq5 ). Students are expected to have a solid foundation in either data visualization, computer graphics, computer vision, or HCI. Having expertise in all would be perfect! However, a robust interest and eagerness to delve into these subjects can be equally valuable, even though it means you need to learn some basic concepts independently.

Sustainable Computing: A Systems View

Meeting Time: 09:45 AM‑11:00 AM  Instructor: Abhishek Chandra Course Description: In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the pervasiveness, scale, and distribution of computing infrastructure: ranging from cloud, HPC systems, and data centers to edge computing and pervasive computing in the form of micro-data centers, mobile phones, sensors, and IoT devices embedded in the environment around us. The growing amount of computing, storage, and networking demand leads to increased energy usage, carbon emissions, and natural resource consumption. To reduce their environmental impact, there is a growing need to make computing systems sustainable. In this course, we will examine sustainable computing from a systems perspective. We will examine a number of questions:   • How can we design and build sustainable computing systems?   • How can we manage resources efficiently?   • What system software and algorithms can reduce computational needs?    Topics of interest would include:   • Sustainable system design and architectures   • Sustainability-aware systems software and management   • Sustainability in large-scale distributed computing (clouds, data centers, HPC)   • Sustainability in dispersed computing (edge, mobile computing, sensors/IoT)

Registration Prerequisites: This course is targeted towards students with a strong interest in computer systems (Operating Systems, Distributed Systems, Networking, Databases, etc.). Background in Operating Systems (Equivalent of CSCI 5103) and basic understanding of Computer Networking (Equivalent of CSCI 4211) is required.

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Read our research on: Gun Policy | International Conflict | Election 2024

Regions & Countries

About 1 in 4 u.s. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year.

Twenty-five years after the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado , a majority of public K-12 teachers (59%) say they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting ever happening at their school. This includes 18% who say they’re extremely or very worried, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to better understand public K-12 teachers’ views on school shootings, how prepared they feel for a potential active shooter, and how they feel about policies that could help prevent future shootings.

To do this, we surveyed 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14, 2023. The teachers are members of RAND’s American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative panel of public school K-12 teachers recruited through MDR Education. Survey data is weighted to state and national teacher characteristics to account for differences in sampling and response to ensure they are representative of the target population.

We also used data from our 2022 survey of U.S. parents. For that project, we surveyed 3,757 U.S. parents with at least one child younger than 18 from Sept. 20 to Oct. 2, 2022. Find more details about the survey of parents here .

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

Another 31% of teachers say they are not too worried about a shooting occurring at their school. Only 7% of teachers say they are not at all worried.

This survey comes at a time when school shootings are at a record high (82 in 2023) and gun safety continues to be a topic in 2024 election campaigns .

Teachers’ experiences with lockdowns

About a quarter of teachers (23%) say they experienced a lockdown in the 2022-23 school year because of a gun or suspicion of a gun at their school. Some 15% say this happened once during the year, and 8% say this happened more than once.

High school teachers are most likely to report experiencing these lockdowns: 34% say their school went on at least one gun-related lockdown in the last school year. This compares with 22% of middle school teachers and 16% of elementary school teachers.

Teachers in urban schools are also more likely to say that their school had a gun-related lockdown. About a third of these teachers (31%) say this, compared with 19% of teachers in suburban schools and 20% in rural schools.

Do teachers feel their school has prepared them for an active shooter?

About four-in-ten teachers (39%) say their school has done a fair or poor job providing them with the training and resources they need to deal with a potential active shooter.

A smaller share (30%) give their school an excellent or very good rating, and another 30% say their school has done a good job preparing them.

Teachers in urban schools are the least likely to say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for a potential active shooter. About one-in-five (21%) say this, compared with 32% of teachers in suburban schools and 35% in rural schools.

Teachers who have police officers or armed security stationed in their school are more likely than those who don’t to say their school has done an excellent or very good job preparing them for a potential active shooter (36% vs. 22%).

Overall, 56% of teachers say they have police officers or armed security stationed at their school. Majorities in rural schools (64%) and suburban schools (56%) say this, compared with 48% in urban schools.

Only 3% of teachers say teachers and administrators at their school are allowed to carry guns in school. This is slightly more common in school districts where a majority of voters cast ballots for Donald Trump in 2020 than in school districts where a majority of voters cast ballots for Joe Biden (5% vs. 1%).

What strategies do teachers think could help prevent school shootings?

The survey also asked teachers how effective some measures would be at preventing school shootings.

Most teachers (69%) say improving mental health screening and treatment for children and adults would be extremely or very effective.

About half (49%) say having police officers or armed security in schools would be highly effective, while 33% say the same about metal detectors in schools.

Just 13% say allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools would be extremely or very effective at preventing school shootings. Seven-in-ten teachers say this would be not too or not at all effective.

How teachers’ views differ by party

Republican and Republican-leaning teachers are more likely than Democratic and Democratic-leaning teachers to say each of the following would be highly effective:

• Having police officers or armed security in schools (69% vs. 37%)
• Having metal detectors in schools (43% vs. 27%)
• Allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools (28% vs. 3%)

And while majorities in both parties say improving mental health screening and treatment would be highly effective at preventing school shootings, Democratic teachers are more likely than Republican teachers to say this (73% vs. 66%).

Parents’ views on school shootings and prevention strategies

In fall 2022, we asked parents a similar set of questions about school shootings.

Roughly a third of parents with K-12 students (32%) said they were extremely or very worried about a shooting ever happening at their child’s school. An additional 37% said they were somewhat worried.

As is the case among teachers, improving mental health screening and treatment was the only strategy most parents (63%) said would be extremely or very effective at preventing school shootings. And allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in schools was seen as the least effective – in fact, half of parents said this would be not too or not at all effective. This question was asked of all parents with a child younger than 18, regardless of whether they have a child in K-12 schools.

Like teachers, parents’ views on strategies for preventing school shootings differed by party. 

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

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‘Back to school’ means anytime from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the U.S. you live

Among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Latin American and Caribbean Studies & U.S. Latinx papers and posters at 2024 CURO Symposium

We are thrilled that the 25th UGA CURO Symposium showcased many papers and posters on Latin America, Caribbean, and U.S. Latinx topics.

The symposium, organized annually by the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities , allows UGA undergraduate students to share their research with the broader community under the guidance of faculty mentors.  

Congratulations to all the students and their mentors!

Papers  

Katie ruby bonilla & leticia de la vega .

"The Everlasting Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Lived Experiences of Community Health Workers/Promotoras of Lazos Hispanos"  Mentor: Dr. J. Maria Bermudez (Human Development and Family Therapy)

Neely McCommons

" The Other Mother: Wet Nursing in Brazil during the 19th and 20th Centuries"  Mentor: Dr. Cassia Roth (History and LACSI)

Cindy Argueta 

"Examining the Influence of Discrimination, Racism, and Social Relationships on Externalizing Behaviors among Latinx Youth"  Mentor: Dr. Thania Galvan (Psychology)

Virginia Ruth Williams

"CEDAW'S Affect on Femicide in Latin America" Mentor: Dr. K C. Clay (International Affairs)

Elizabeth Bravo

"Behavioral Observation Coding Systems with Latinx Preschoolers and their Parents: A Critical Review and Analysis"  Mentor: Dr. Cynthia Suveg 

Leslie Velasquez

"Characterizing the Dementia Needs for diagnosis, support, and education among the Hispanic/Latinx Population in Georgia."  Mentor: Dr. Anita M Reina (Public Health )

Jacqueline Elaine Kerr

"Reproductive Justice in Latin America: Brazil."  Mentor: Dr. Cassia Roth (History and LACSI)

David Burke

"Chagas Disease: A Historical Perspective and the Urgency of Funding Vaccines to Fight It." Mentor: Dr. Leonard Martin Ward (Romance Languages)  

Tillman Norsworthy

"Hurricane Sound: Collective Memory through Pop Music in the Caribbean." Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Birch (Anthropology)

Isaac Stone

"Survey of the Giant Barrel Sponge (Xestospongia muta) Populations in Mesophotic Coral Reefs of Puerto Rico ." Mentor: Dr. Sara Rivero-Calle (Marine Sciences)

Amelia Marin Shugart

"Effects of Canopy Cover on Abiotic and Biotic Factors of Tank-Bromeliad Ecosystems in Monteverde, Costa Rica." Mentor: Amanda T. Rugenski (Ecology)

Maddie Amelia Ross & Mackenzie Jordan Hulse

"Assessing Urbanization Impacts and Climate Change Vulnerability: A Study of Compound Inundation in Southeast Puerto Rico."  Mentor: Dr. Felix Luis Santiago Collazo (Engineering)

Ruby Parcells

"Did Chimborazo volcano cause the Late Antique Little Ice Age or other climate changes at a regional to global scale?" Mentor: Dr. Mattia Pistone (Geology) 

Emily Garcia-Delgado

"Latinx youth's experiences of racism/discrimination and its relation to anxiety: A scoping review."  Mentor: Dr. Thania Galvan (Psychology)

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