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Full-Text Articles in Education

Do High Cohort Default Rates Affect Student Living Allowances And Debt Burdens? An Empirical Analysis, Robert Kelchen Dec 2019

Do High Cohort Default Rates Affect Student Living Allowances And Debt Burdens? An Empirical Analysis, Robert Kelchen

Journal of Student Financial Aid

The federal government holds colleges accountable for their students’ cohort default rates (CDRs), with colleges facing the potential loss of all federal financial aid dollars if their CDRs are too high for three consecutive years. Yet a sizable portion of student borrowing is for non-tuition living expenses—funds that the college does not get to keep. In this paper, I examine whether colleges at risk of federal sanctions due to high CDRs respond by reducing living allowances in an effort to limit borrowing and if student debt burdens decrease after a college receives a high default rate. Using data from public …


Experiencing Financial Aid At A Historically White Institution: A Critical Race Analysis, Liane I. Hypolite, Antar A. Tichavakunda Dec 2019

Experiencing Financial Aid At A Historically White Institution: A Critical Race Analysis, Liane I. Hypolite, Antar A. Tichavakunda

Journal of Student Financial Aid

While scholars have looked at the intersection of financial aid and various identities, little work has examined how, if at all, race and racism are imbued into financial aid in higher education using qualitative inquiry. This paper begins that work by using a Critical Race Theory lens to analyze how, in the seemingly colorblind structure and process of financial aid, race matters. Using interview data collected from 35 Black juniors and seniors at a selective, historically White institution (HWI), the authors examine how race has informed students’ perceptions of themselves, their families, and their futures through their experiences with financial …


Crushing Debt Or Savvy Strategy? Financial Literacy And Student Perceptions Of Their Student Loan Debt, Gail Markle Dec 2019

Crushing Debt Or Savvy Strategy? Financial Literacy And Student Perceptions Of Their Student Loan Debt, Gail Markle

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Almost three quarters of American college students use loans to fund their college education, although according to public discourse student debt is a critical problem. Grounded in social reproduction theory and consumer socialization theory this study examines the influence of financial literacy on students’ college financing decisions, perceptions of student loan debt, and education-related behavior. A sample of 429 undergraduate students selected using systematic cluster sampling from a large public university in the southeast completed a survey containing closed and open ended questions. Participants reported moderate levels of financial literacy (72.3%) and student loan awareness (62.7%). Only 20% of students …


Social Dimensions Of Student Debt: A Data Mining Analysis, Dirk Witteveen, Paul Attewell Oct 2019

Social Dimensions Of Student Debt: A Data Mining Analysis, Dirk Witteveen, Paul Attewell

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Media commentary on undergraduates' loan debt portrays a crisis in which many students are unable to pay back their loans, having borrowed large sums and lacking sufficient post-college income to repay. Several scholars have questioned the media accounts, noting that indebtedness is highest among students from high income families, while defaults predominate among low debt students. Using a data mining technique known as CART, we analyze national data on the indebtedness of recent baccalaureate graduates, to uncover combinations of social characteristics that are associated with loan pressure: the ratio of indebtedness to post-college earnings. We find that students from lower …


Tuition Discounting At Small, Private, Baccalaureate Institutions: Reaching A Point Of No Return?, Luke Behaunek, Ann M. Gansemer-Topf Jul 2019

Tuition Discounting At Small, Private, Baccalaureate Institutions: Reaching A Point Of No Return?, Luke Behaunek, Ann M. Gansemer-Topf

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This paper describes relationships between tuition discounting (TD), net tuition revenue, and other institutional characteristics at four-year, liberal arts institutions. TD, a practice whereby institutional grants are used to subsidize a student’s educational expense, has become a common practice at four-year institutions. TDs impact on enrollments, financial aid, and budgets continues to increase, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of the practice. Drawing upon Breneman’s (1994) economic theory of four-year private institutions, this research examined trends in student characteristics, enrollment, institutional grants, and net tuition revenue (NTR) and the relationship between TD practices NTR. Analyzing panel data of four-year, small, …


Take It, Or Leave It? Analyzing How Unsubsidized Federal Loans Affect Six-Year Degree Attainment Across Income Groups, Ray Franke Jul 2019

Take It, Or Leave It? Analyzing How Unsubsidized Federal Loans Affect Six-Year Degree Attainment Across Income Groups, Ray Franke

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This study examined the effects of unsubsidized federal Stafford loans on six-year degree attainment at 4-year colleges and universities in the U.S., and how these differentially impact students across income groups. For this, nationally representative data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS:04/09) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) was merged to analyze N=6,561 students attending n=651 four-year institutions. To account for possible selection bias in loan borrowing and the nested data structure, this study employs a propensity score matching, multilevel modeling approach. In addition to financial aid measures, the analytic model draws from the heterogeneous research approach and …


A Case Study Of Undergraduate Debt, Repayment Plans, And Postbaccalaureate Decision-Making Among Black Students At Hbcus, Dominique J. Baker Jun 2019

A Case Study Of Undergraduate Debt, Repayment Plans, And Postbaccalaureate Decision-Making Among Black Students At Hbcus, Dominique J. Baker

Journal of Student Financial Aid

High payments and default on undergraduate debt have consequences; they are of national concern if aversion to debt deters students from making optimal postbaccalaureate decisions on postbaccalaureate educational aspirations, enrollment, and early-career occupation. I conducted two semi-structured interviews, near graduation and six months later, with six recent graduates of an HBCU who borrowed at some point in their undergraduate career and were required to complete federal exit counseling. I found that the relationship between undergraduate debt and postbaccalaureate decision-making is partially explained by the themes of timing and structure of information, family as a source of knowledge, comfort with the …


Reassessing The Role Of Federal Aid Policy In Financing 21st Century Higher Education For Underserved Groups: Recent Trends, Contemporary Problems, And New Proposals, Gabriel R. Serna Jun 2019

Reassessing The Role Of Federal Aid Policy In Financing 21st Century Higher Education For Underserved Groups: Recent Trends, Contemporary Problems, And New Proposals, Gabriel R. Serna

Journal of Student Financial Aid

This review explores the expanding role of federal aid policy considered from a contemporary and social justice perspective. It highlights recent trends in aid policy as well as difficulties that arise from the current system. Next, the review takes up an analysis of current aid policy that carefully considers equity and efficiency as primary criteria for funding public higher education. Through a meticulous review of the most up-to-date literature and data it then moves on to new proposals to increase equity, efficiency, and effectiveness with an eye toward increasing access and attainment. Indeed, a general takeaway from this review is …


Changes In Hbcu Financial Aid And Student Enrollment After The Tightening Of Plus Credit Standards, Matthew T. Johnson, Julie Bruch, Brian Gill Jun 2019

Changes In Hbcu Financial Aid And Student Enrollment After The Tightening Of Plus Credit Standards, Matthew T. Johnson, Julie Bruch, Brian Gill

Journal of Student Financial Aid

We analyze changes in financial aid and student enrollment at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that occurred after the U.S. Department of Education increased the credit history requirements necessary to obtain Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS). We use institution-level data to examine financial aid and enrollment changes in the first two academic years affected by the new credit standards (2012-13 and 2013-14). The results show that PLUS loans declined substantially at HBCUs in 2012-13, and the decreases were not fully replaced by other types of federal financial aid. HBCUs also experienced larger declines in enrollment than other institutions …


Investing In Education: Impact Of Student Financial Stress On Self-Reported Health, Stephen Poplaski, Randy Kemnitz, Cliff A. Robb Jun 2019

Investing In Education: Impact Of Student Financial Stress On Self-Reported Health, Stephen Poplaski, Randy Kemnitz, Cliff A. Robb

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Through the lens of Human Capital theory, the role of financial aid (both amount and type) is explored in the context of student financial stress, and ultimately general student health. Data are taken from a sample of 232 students from a major Midwestern university who were surveyed about their financial attitudes, behavior and knowledge. The presence and amount of federal loans was associated with self-reported financial stress, and the validated stress measure was further associated with students’ self-reported health. A number of personal life events (i.e. job loss) were also associated with higher stress levels. Implications are discussed.


Financial Aid Packaging At Community Colleges: Which Types Of Awards Packages Increase Student Persistence?, Maria Luna-Torres, Lyle Mckinney, Andrea Backscheider Burridge, Catherine Horn, Sara J. Jones Jan 2019

Financial Aid Packaging At Community Colleges: Which Types Of Awards Packages Increase Student Persistence?, Maria Luna-Torres, Lyle Mckinney, Andrea Backscheider Burridge, Catherine Horn, Sara J. Jones

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Increasing college costs, coupled with decreasing financial aid has raised public concerns over the affordability of higher education. For the past four decades, the nation has seen the cost of tuition rise at levels that exceed inflation, and financial assistance rates that have not kept pace with that growth. Studies suggest that these financial resources play a role in influencing college attendance decisions and persistence for low-income students. This study examines the characteristics of zero-EFC students as compared to non-zero EFC students and determines the extent to which a gift-aid only, and gift-aid plus loans awards package affects the likelihood …