A Strategy but Not the Goal: Black, Underresourced Enrollees’ Perceptions of Degree Worth Through Fugitivity

• In Event: Debt, Disciple, and Discrimination: Interrogating Inequities Across Higher Education

Abstract

This study investigates the perceived value of a college degree from the perspective of Black, underresourced student loan borrowers and introduces the concept of fugitivity as a foundation for understanding their educational journeys and indebtedness. This study aims to challenge traditional metrics for assessing degree worth that promote college education as a private investment that fails to account for the collective struggles of underresourced Black communities, who on average see lower financial returns post-graduation. A series of in-depth interviews facilitated through narrative inquiry indicate that participants understand the value of the college degree as a means to further exercise their autonomy to support their communities and indebtedness as a generational touchstone necessitated by their pursuit of liberation.

Author

• Aaminah Long, Indiana University