Much of the policy debate emerging from concerns over student debt has focused on the structure and operation of income-driven repayment (IDR). As the number of available IDR plans and the share of borrowers enrolling in these plans has increased, the system has become more confusing and difficult to navigate. IDR has not prevented default…

Educators are faced with increasing student loan debt, increasing costs of becoming a teacher, and stagnant teacher salaries. Research suggests that the structural elements of the student loan system, including systemic barriers, may act as deterrents, preventing access and opportunity, especially in the teaching profession. The profession needs…

This brief is intended as an evidence-based guide for policy analysts and decision makers to inform critical areas in the Higher Education Authorization Act related to racial justice. Our recommendations prioritize combating systemic racism in higher education with a particular focus on disrupting anti-Blackness, though several sections focus on…

Student debt is a convenient target in a presidential election year, but it obscures the true crisis: high dropout rates from low-quality postsecondary institutions and the unmanageable debt borne by students of those institutions. And despite rising student debt, monthly loan payments as a share of income have remained steady, added earnings…

Despite increasing financial pressures on higher education systems throughout the world, many governments remain resolutely opposed to the introduction of tuition fees, and some countries and states where tuition fees have been long established are now reconsidering free higher education. This paper examines the consequences of charging tuition…

Education provides one of the best opportunities for American children to build the capacity to climb up the economic ladder. It has even been called the "great equalizer" in American society. In today's tightened labor market, providing equal access to postsecondary education is more critical than ever. The Georgetown Center on…

In this paper, we consider lessons for other countries about the design of student loans with income-contingent repayments (i.e. repayments calculated as "x" per cent of each borrower's subsequent income). Using a dataset of 20,000 simulated lifetime graduate earnings paths, we estimate the cost and distributional effects of reforms in…

College graduates and current students are swimming in a sea of debt. As of this writing, the total amount of outstanding student loan debt has been estimated at $960 billion. The Occupy Student Debt movement, inspired by Occupy Wall Street, has suggested that all student loan debt should be forgiven. As a starting point, members of the movement…

The benefits of deferring the payment of higher-education costs are increasingly acknowledged as a way to overcome student-borrowing constraints. Since higher education is a risky investment and students are generally risk averse, the repayment arrangements proposed in the literature frequently include some insurance. In a competitive environment,…

Student loan debt is fast becoming a fact of American life. Students are borrowing more money for college and are being forced to pay back large sums of their income. This report offers a new way to pay back student loans based on each individual's earnings. International Income-Contingent Loan Systems are appended. (Contains 1 figure and 40…

While student loans provide college opportunity for many, undergraduate student debt resulting from typical and heavy borrowing hinders future investments in human capital. Propensity score matching analysis of the NSF's 2003 National Survey of Recent College Graduates demonstrates that debt negatively affects the graduate school enrollment of…

The relatively short repayment periods of four or six years after graduation under the Government-Subsidized Student Loan (GSSL), the main student loans programme in China, has, since its implementation in 1999, imposed considerable hardship in repaying loans. This paper presents a new diversified repayment model, the "geometric proportion…

In recent times there has been considerable change and instability with respect to Thailand student loans policy. The contribution of what follows is to compare and contrast the consequences of disparate possible approaches to the payment of tuition in two main respects: the effect on internal rates of return for higher education investments; and…

As more countries are planning to inaugurate or enlarge student loan schemes, much of the debate is over the question of the optimal form of the repayment obligation: specifically, whether it should be according to a fixed schedule of payments or a percentage of earnings or income. This paper argues that the current fascination with income…

The British system of student loans has a zero real rate of interest, less than it costs the government to borrow the money. This paper discusses the problems that arise from interest subsidies in the UK system of student loans; systems in other countries, for example Australia and New Zealand, face similar problems. The topic appears to be narrow…