Student loan debt is at record levels in the United States. The negative psychological and financial effects for borrowers are well-documented. This article turns to the individual-level political effects of student loan debt. Rooted in the policy feedback literature, we examine whether the rise in student loan debt is associated with negative…

Beginning in March 2020 and ultimately continuing to September 2023, most student loan borrowers had their required payments on federal student loans paused. For student loan borrowers with limited access to credit, the payment pause provided additional cash-on-hand that may have allowed them to reduce their work hours. Using survey data capturing…

This article explored the state of the industry of graduate theological education using three key measures: accessibility, affordability, and financial sustainability. Access was analyzed with respect to educational modality (i.e., in-person, distance) and student populations (i.e., by demographic category). Affordability was investigated by…

This article will explain how a series of educator strikes in 2022 in Ghana led to increased awareness of and calls for tax justice and debt relief from a growing movement of public sector workers and civil society organisations. We chart how the issues and demands of teacher organisations and other public sector workers shifted and increased over…

Public school districts in the United States borrow over a trillion dollars for their facilities each year from the municipal bond market, yet more than half of these school buildings need significant repair. In this paper, we examine the relationship between a single school district infamous for its infrastructure needs, the School District of…

Universities have created more than 14,000 new master's degree programs in the last two decades, and much of this is likely driven by an effort to increase institutional revenues during challenging financial times. But this expansion in graduate education creates a risk that these new programs fail to generate a return on investment to students or…

Recent research on vocational training in the global South suggests training may have the effect of unrealistically inflating trainee expectations of remunerative employment and upward social mobility. These studies, however, have focused almost exclusively on training for formal sector employment. The present paper, by contrast, explores how…

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between financial literacy and risk-taking behavior in the stock market for both graduates and undergraduates. Design/methodology/approach: This study conducted two surveys on two groups: graduates and undergraduates. The questionnaires were sent to the two groups via "Google Form". The…

Paying for college is often a family affair, with both parents and students contributing. We study the effects of college on family finances using administrative data on the universe of federal aid applicants in California linked to credit records. We provide the first comprehensive analysis of how both students and their parents use debt with…

From AI tutors who ensure individualized instruction but cannot do math to free online courses from elite universities that were supposed to democratize higher education, claims that technological innovations will transform education often fall short. Yet, as Anne Trumbore shows in "The Teacher in the Machine," the promises of today's…

This report examines state-funded loan forgiveness and conditional grant programs, designed to alleviate student loan debt and address workforce shortages in high-need fields. These service-contingent programs incentivize graduates to work in targeted occupations or underserved areas in exchange for debt relief.

This report illustrates Kentucky's progress in reducing debt levels for undergraduate degree and credential completers at public postsecondary institutions, particularly over the last five years. These loan amounts are averages, and they are calculated in different ways (including and excluding students with no debt) and for different populations…

This report is the third in a three-part series examining how institutions of higher education have responded to state and federal policies limiting the use of transcript holds for unpaid balances. Ithaka S+R partnered with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) to field the 2024 Transcript Hold…

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration paused federal student loan payments and interest accruals as a temporary relief measure for borrowers. The pause covered roughly 90 percent of all outstanding student loans, affecting about 38 million individuals, who collectively held a balance of $1.5 trillion. For each of the 17 million…

Institutional debt, also referred to as direct-to-school debt, is debt owed by students to their college or university for unpaid tuition, fees, room and board, education benefit overpayments, or fines. Unpaid tuition is the most common debt and can arise if a student enrolled with the expectation of aid that did not come through, or if a student…