Indebted learning: the geography of higher education and social capital in Delaware
Date
2021
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Student loans are a leading type of debt in the U.S. at the moment amounting to billions of dollars. This project seeks to understand how students and alumni of the University of Delaware acquired student loans and subsequently how this process effects the successful repayment of the loans. Student loans in the United States of America are funded primarily through the federal government, effectively shaping how state schools offer resources to their students. This ultimately leads to a layered effect on the student from different scales of government as the federal funding shapes state services, then individual educational experience. In this research I ask, first, how societal views of higher education being necessary for success impacts the student’s decisions on acquiring student loans. Second, how are students educated about the process of taking on student loans, including repayment? What resources were available for potential students about student loans? Lastly, how was the process of financing post-secondary education experienced by students? What are their attitudes towards loans and the process? Understanding this process has the potential to effect current and future students and institutional polices. Informing new ways for helping students navigate taking on debt as well as institutions having better ways of supporting their students. As default on student loans increases attempting to understand just one universities student body could have a large impact. Data was collected via an electronic internet survey sent out via email. The survey was developed with response-based question to allow for increased survey completion. Along with the chance to enter to win a prize to increase submissions. This data coupled the national data of student loan debt paints a picture of what the landscape of educational financing looks like, through the case study of the University of Delaware.
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Keywords
Debt, Delaware, Higher education, Student loans