ERIC Number: ED676515
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Sep
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
College Loans and Human Capital Investment. Working Paper 34221
Chao Fu; Hsuan-Chih Lin; Atsuko Tanaka
National Bureau of Economic Research
College loans serve as a double-edged sword for human capital investment: While they facilitate access to education, the burden of repayment may distort post-education investments in human capital. We examine the role of college loans and loan repayment policies through a structural model in which heterogeneous individuals, faced with borrowing limits, make dynamic decisions on consumption, borrowing/saving, labor supply, and costly human capital investment (via both college education and on-the-job learning a la Ben-Porath (1967)). We estimate two versions of the model using data from the NLSY79: one with natural borrowing limits and another with parameterized limits. Counterfactual simulations based on both models suggest that, relative to the standard fixed repayment plan, income-driven repayment (IDR) plans modestly increase educational attainment, lifetime earnings, and individual welfare. Although some generous IDR plans may result in losses for the loan program itself, overall government revenue is higher under IDRs than under the standard repayment plan when lifetime income taxes are accounted for, creating a win-win scenario for both individual welfare and government revenue.
Descriptors: Student Loan Programs, Loan Repayment, Human Capital, Models, Higher Education, On the Job Training, Educational Attainment, Income, Well Being, Taxes
National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada; National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A

Direct link
