Two Decades of Debt: How Has the Profile of Student Loan Borrowers Changed From 1992 to 2012?

• In Event: The Effects of Debt and Borrowing on Student Success

Abstract

Few topics in higher education finance receive as much public attention today as student loan debt. While journalists, politicians, and policy advocates routinely report on the topic, academic research has been comparatively uneven. As a result, much of what we know about student loan debt has not been vetted through peer review and it has painted an inconsistent (and in some cases inaccurate) description of the student loan “problem." This paper provides what currently is missing from the financial aid literature: a comprehensive portrait of who borrows, how much, and how this has changed over time.

Author

• Nicholas Hillman, University of Wisconsin - Madison