In the 21st century, more students enroll in higher education and take federal loans to defer the cost of attendance resulting in average levels of borrowing steadily increasing. In the same timeframe, there is an increase in the number of students entering repayment for their federal loans and an increase in the proportion of individuals…

In the first chapter, I measure the impact of student loan debt on young, college-educated workers' decisions regarding labor supply and enrollment in graduate school. I exploit variation in student loan debt driven by the formulas that determine Federal Student Aid in order to identify these effects. Instrumental variable estimates indicate…