About half of the more than $1 trillion in outstanding federal student Direct Loans are being repaid by borrowers using IDR plans. Some borrowers in IDR plans are now potentially eligible for forgiveness of their remaining loan balances after 20 or 25 years of payments. GAO was asked to review IDR forgiveness. This report examines: (1) how many…

Much of the policy debate emerging from concerns over student debt has focused on the structure and operation of income-driven repayment (IDR). As the number of available IDR plans and the share of borrowers enrolling in these plans has increased, the system has become more confusing and difficult to navigate. IDR has not prevented default…

There has been a lack of consensus among researchers and practitioners about how to define financial literacy, but there is agreement that financial education changes depending on the stage of life to which people belong. This study provides consensus on what topics are considered a part of financial literacy specifically for traditional aged…

Low-level misdemeanor and traffic violations draw tens of millions of people into local courts to pay fines and fees each year, generating billions of dollars in revenue. We examine how standardized legal fines and fees for low-level charges induce disparate treatment and result in disparate impact. Using a mixed-methods approach that incorporates…

Although student loan debt has been rigorously studied over the past several decades, scant research has investigated how institutions of higher education communicate debt to current and former student borrowers. As COVID-19 forced the United States Department of Education to cancel the Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement as part of a student's…

Approximately 43 million Americans collectively owe $1.5 trillion in federal student loan debt, but students aren't the only ones drowning in student debt. Increasingly, parents, particularly Black parents, are taking out Parent PLUS (Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students) loans and putting off retirement to help their children pay for college.…

High school and college students are inundated by indicators and rankings supposedly designed to help them decide where to go to college and what to study once they arrive. In "Metrics That Matter," coauthors Zachary Bleemer, Mukul Kumar, Aashish Mehta, Chris Muellerleile, and Christopher Newfield take a critical look at these metrics…

We used Critical Discourse Analysis to examine the racial discourse within recent attempts to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. Specifically, we interrogated congressional markup hearings to understand how members frame student debt and the racialized dynamics embedded within. Our findings highlight three types of discourse: "All…

Graduate borrowing makes up a growing share of today's student loans, with about half of all student loan debt borrowed for graduate programs. Average graduate borrowing has grown by about 7 percent for master's degrees and 11 percent for professional degrees over the last 5 years. Borrowing varies widely by field of study and institution type,…

The key factor in creating value in companies and banks is the capital structure and financing method so that companies are moving towards creating value through debt control and the use of proper financing. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate the effect of financial leverage on the stock price volatility trend in listed…

Bankruptcy reform in 2005 restricted debtors' ability to discharge private student loan debt. The reform was motivated by the perceived incentive of some borrowers to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 even if they had, or expected to have, sufficient income to service their debt. Using a nationally representative sample of millions of anonymized…

The higher education narrative has been dominated by the student loan crisis as of late. While the magnitude of this problem is often oversold, borrowers do sometimes need help. However, debt forgiveness plans, such as those proposed by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), deliver the biggest benefits to those who need it…

Federal government policies have shifted the financial burdens of paying for college away from the public (e.g., grants and scholarships) to more onus placed on students and their families (Elliott & Friedline, 2013; Robb, 2011). However, budget cuts due to economic challenges often increase tuition rates (Orfield, 2002) that outpace what…

Objective: Determine relationships between college students' student loan presence and self-rated physical and mental health, major medical problems, mental health conditions, physical, dental, and mental health care visits and delays, and medication use and reductions. Participants: A total of 3,248 undergraduates at two regional public U.S.…

College affordability is a significant factor in student access, retention, and completion. Tuition and fee rates are a component of affordability, as is the availability of financial aid programs from federal, state, institutional and private sources, among other factors. Strategically designed approaches to college affordability can better…