Connecting Student Loans to Labor Market Outcomes: Policy Lessons from Chile

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 508-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Beyer ◽  
Justine Hastings ◽  
Christopher Neilson ◽  
Seth Zimmerman

Rising student loan default rates and protests over debt suggest that many students make college enrollment and financing choices they regret. Policymakers have considered tying the availability of federally subsidized loans at degree programs to financial outcomes for past students. This paper considers the implementation of such a policy in Chile. We describe how loan repayment varied by degree type at baseline, the design of the loan reform, and how earnings-based loan caps change availability of loans and incentives for students and higher education institutions. We discuss the challenges facing policymakers seeking to link loan availability to earnings outcomes.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-83
Author(s):  
Stephanie R. Cellini ◽  
Rajeev Darolia ◽  
Lesley J. Turner

We examine the effects of federal sanctions imposed on for-profit institutions in the 1990s. Using county-level variation in the timing and magnitude of sanctions linked to student loan default rates, we estimate that sanctioned for-profits experience a 68 percent decrease in annual enrollment following sanction receipt. Enrollment losses due to for-profit sanctions are 60–70 percent offset by increased enrollment within local community colleges, where students are less likely to default on federal student loans. Conversely, for-profit sanctions decrease enrollment in local unsanctioned for-profit competitors, likely due to improved information about local options and reputational spillovers. Overall, market enrollment declines by 2 percent. (JEL H52, I21, I22, I23, I28)


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeev Darolia

Student loan debt and defaults have been steadily rising, igniting public worry about the associated public and private risks. This has led to controversial regulatory attempts to curb defaults by holding colleges, particularly those in the for-profit sector, increasingly accountable for the student loan repayment behavior of their students. Such efforts endeavor to protect taxpayers against the misuse of public money used to encourage college enrollment and to safeguard students against potentially risky human capital investments. Recent policy proposals penalize colleges for students’ poor repayment performance, raising questions about institutions’ power to influence this behavior. Many of the schools at risk of not meeting student loan default measures also disproportionately enroll low-income, nontraditional, and financially independent students. Policy makers therefore face the challenge of promoting the efficient use of public funds and protecting students while also encouraging access to higher education.


2017 ◽  
Vol 671 (1) ◽  
pp. 202-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kelchen ◽  
Amy Y. Li

The federal government holds colleges accountable if too many of their students default on loan repayment, but the default measure traditionally used captures only a fraction of students who are struggling to repay their loans. The 2015 College Scorecard dataset introduced a new loan repayment metric, showing that the percentage of students who have not reduced the principal balance of their loans by at least $1 over a given period of time far outstrips the traditional loan default measure. Using a sample of 3,595 colleges, we test the extent to which student demographics, institutional characteristics, and state-level economic factors are associated with repayment rates and default rates. We also examine whether factors associated with loan repayment rates change between one and seven years after students begin repayment. We find that characteristics traditionally associated with economic disadvantage, including being a first-generation college student or a member of an underrepresented minority group, tend to be associated with lower loan repayment rates, as does attendance at for-profit colleges. These factors are just as or more strongly associated with longer-term repayment rates compared to shorter-term repayment rates.


Author(s):  
Steve Joanis ◽  
James Burnley ◽  
J. D. Mohundro

This study extends the literature on education economics and student retention by examining social capital as a predictor of college graduation rates, student debt levels, and student loan default rates. Coleman’s social capital theory is employed to understand how social influences can impact students through external social support (i.e., social capital). The study uses school-level data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and two social capital measures. Results suggest that social capital, at both the state and the community level, significantly influences graduation rates, student debt levels, and loan default rates. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.


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