Search Results
Working Paper
Does education loan debt influence household financial distress? An assessment using the 2007-09 SCF Panel
This paper uses the recent 2007-09 SCF panel to examine the influence of student loans on financial distress. Families with student loans in 2007 have higher levels of financial distress than families without such loans, and these families were more susceptible to transitions to financial distress during the early stages of the Great Recession. This correlation persists once we control for a host of other demographic, work-status, and household balance sheet measures. Families with an average level of student loans were 3.1 percentage points more likely to be 60 days late paying bills and 3 ...
Working Paper
Student Loan Relief Programs: Implications for Borrowers and the Federal Government
As college costs increase and more students borrow to fund their education, debt load and delinquency rates have become significant problems. Student loan obligations are challenging to manage for new graduates with lower earnings and for borrowers in financial hardship. This paper discusses the various federal student loan repayment relief programs that are available and their borrower and fiscal impacts. The implications for borrowers' costs and the federal budget vary significantly by loan amount, income level, and relief program.
Speech
The economy and the Household Debt and Credit Report
Remarks at the Household Debt and Credit Press Briefing, New York City.
Working Paper
A Day Late and a Dollar Short : Liquidity and Household Formation among Student Borrowers
The federal government encourages human capital investment through lending and grant programs, but resources from these programs may also finance non-education activities for students whose liquidity is otherwise restricted. This paper explores this possibility, using administrative data for the universe of federal student loan borrowers linked to tax records. We examine the effects of a sharp discontinuity in program limits?generated by the timing of a student borrower?s 24th birthday?on household formation early in the lifecycle. After demonstrating that this discontinuity induces a jump in ...
Working Paper
The impact of student loan debt on small business formation
Small businesses are the backbone of the U.S. economy and account for approximately one-half of the private-sector economy and 99% of all businesses. To start a small business, individuals need access to capital. Given the importance of an entrepreneur?s personal debt capacity in financing a startup business, student loan debt, which is difficult to discharge via bankruptcy, can have lasting effects and may have an impact on the ability of future small business owners to raise capital. This study examines the impact of the growth in student debt on net small business formation. We find a ...
Journal Article
The economics of student loan borrowing and repayment
Reports in the popular press and policymakers? concerns about student loans have greatly intensified in recent years because of rising student loan balances and defaults. Even greater cause for concern arose as student loans outstanding passed credit card debt to become the single largest nonmortgage household debt in 2012. Worries about the risk of massive default have even prompted a comparison with the subprime mortgage crisis
Working Paper
Do loans increase college access and choice?: examining the introduction of universal student loans
The returns to college are substantial, including increased earnings and public benefits, such as better health and increased involvement in public service and giving. As a result, since the introduction of the Guaranteed Student Loan program in 1965 and the Pell Grant in 1972, the federal government has experimented with using financial aid to increase college access, choice, and affordability. ; Although years of research support the notion that financial aid can influence students' post-secondary decisions, questions remain about the best ways to design such programs and the relative ...