Title of Poster or Presentation
Submission Type
Poster
Degree Type
PhD
Discipline
Social Sciences
Department
Sociology
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract or Description
Student debt is a well-documented topic in sociological literature. It is well known that
there is a student loan crisis in the United States. However, kinship or familial ties in educational debt is not as studied as individual student loans. The student debt crisis seems to reach a new catastrophic level as years pass. Yet, not much research exists that looks at external sources of financing for students such as parents, grandparents, or other familial ties. This study contributes to the literature of student debt by analyzing debt patterns across those that take out loans for themselves, their spouse, or their children. More specifically, this study hones in on the conditions that bring someone to take out an educational loan at all and how that differs from people that take out educational loans for their spouses or children.
Using data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finance, this study quantitatively examines how race, sex, education, income, and number of kids affect the total amount borrowed, the interest rate given, and whether or not it was a Federal loan taken out. The results reinforce previous findings of race being an indicator of more educational debt, however, I did not find a significant predictor for interest rates and could not make an argument for predatory lending practices.
Creative Commons License
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Educational Debt: Educational Loans and the Family
Student debt is a well-documented topic in sociological literature. It is well known that
there is a student loan crisis in the United States. However, kinship or familial ties in educational debt is not as studied as individual student loans. The student debt crisis seems to reach a new catastrophic level as years pass. Yet, not much research exists that looks at external sources of financing for students such as parents, grandparents, or other familial ties. This study contributes to the literature of student debt by analyzing debt patterns across those that take out loans for themselves, their spouse, or their children. More specifically, this study hones in on the conditions that bring someone to take out an educational loan at all and how that differs from people that take out educational loans for their spouses or children.
Using data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finance, this study quantitatively examines how race, sex, education, income, and number of kids affect the total amount borrowed, the interest rate given, and whether or not it was a Federal loan taken out. The results reinforce previous findings of race being an indicator of more educational debt, however, I did not find a significant predictor for interest rates and could not make an argument for predatory lending practices.
