A discussion of debt burden, particularly for college students and graduates, looks at recent research, discusses borrower perceptions of debt burdens and excessive debt, analyzes debt-to-income ratios, and synthesizes these ideas into a universal model. Data from a 1990 state survey of borrowers by the Iowa College Student Aid Commission.…

In response to sharply rising student debt, the University of Illinois at Chicago, in conjunction with Wheaton College and the University of Chicago, has helped design microcomputer-driven software to teach students about loan programs, assist in personal financial goal analysis, define expectations, and integrate budgeting and financial planning…

Debtors seeking discharge in bankruptcy of student loans should be aware of certain arguments in their favor: that the burden of persuasion should remain on the creditor throughout; the standard of proof should be the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard; and that burden of production is, for the most part, the creditor's. Recent case law is…

College students today face heavy student loan debt that is intensified by the amount of credit card debt they carry. This study provides a profile of financially at-risk students based on their credit card usage behavior. When compared to the non-financially at-risk students, those in the financially at-risk group were found to have higher…

This booklet, designed to help Colorado higher education students make informed decisions about undertaking educational loans, contains information on determining a reasonable debt level, budgeting future expenses, and available loan programs. Following an introduction, Part 1 introduces the reader to the basics of educational loans including…

This report presents findings of a national survey on the use of credit cards by college students. A computer-assisted telephone survey of a stratified random sample resulted in a total of 750 completed surveys. Following a chart summarizing selected earlier studies, the report presents the major findings of this survey: (1) credit card use is a…

A review was conducted of methods used by the U.S. Department of Education and by state or private nonprofit loan guarantee agencies to protect the federal government's interest when collecting defaulted student loans under the Guaranteed Student Loan Program. Questionnaires were sent to 58 guarantee agencies that administer the program to…

Guidelines are provided to assist in the interpretation of the regulatory requirements regarding disbursement of funds to students under Title IV student aid programs. Attention is also directed to the higher education community's self-regulation initiatives regarding refund and repayment, as well as the Department of Education's regulations in…

Advantages of locally-funded, short-term, small, emergency student loans for both institutions and students are outlined, and its increasing importance as a form of aid is noted. A list of questions for financial aid administrators to consider before making such a loan to a student is provided. (MSE)

This report responds to a congressional request to assess the availability of information on the extent to which the increasing burden of student debt affects: (1) students' choices about whether and where to enroll in college and whether or how much to borrow; (2) the length of time it takes to earn the baccalaureate degree and student choices…

It is more important than ever for colleges and universities to manage the resources they have and guard against unnecessary loss. Student bad debt is one loss that can be resolved. A study identified certain predictors of student bad debt, including academic indicators and student characteristics, and offers suggestions to institutions for…

This document on contingent student assistance repayment plans in Ontario universities contains a paper on policy options for repayment plans and the manual for a simulation model for testing policy options. The policy options paper begins by describing the contingent repayment concept in which the test for receiving a public subsidy is shifted…

This report presents findings of an analysis of the debt incurred by college graduates from student loans and of the ability of Florida residents who graduate from state institutions to repay this debt within discretionary income. Further reported are recommendations for a systematic procedure for determining the need for increased funding of…

The extent to which educational debt is burdensome for borrowers who are currently in repayment was studied with attention to the actual impact of loan repayment on economic behavior and the perceptions of repayers concerning that impact. Opinions of borrowers concerning the role of student loans in providing access to and choice among higher…

The financial aspects of college loan burden are analyzed, based on the view that loan burden is a function of a borrower's capacity to repay the debt obligation. The following components of a financial model of indebtness are addressed: the stock of education loans at the time repayment begins, the repayment flow associated with each stock of…