The conversation about student debt policy is heating up, and there’s been a recent focus on how student debt adversely impacts Black students. At Trellis Foundation, we care deeply about postsecondary affordability, access, and completion. This post provides a brief context of the research and headlines that have helped shape our thinking on these issues as they relate to Black students. First, we’ll talk about the disproportionate student debt problems that Black students are facing. Then, we’ll discuss some possible explanations for these obstacles. We have also conducted a brief summary of these 10 sources, for your reference.
Significantly fewer Black students graduate without debt.
There’s an alarming relationship between degree attainment and larger amounts of debt for Black students. A study by The American Council on Education (ACE) found that about 30 percent of badcreditloanshelp.net/payday-loans-sc/ all 2015–16 bachelor’s degree recipients graduated without debt, but only 14 percent of African-American graduates could say the same. The average debt of Black graduates is around $34,000, which is higher than any other racial or ethnic group 1 .
Additionally, only 19 percent of African-American master’s degree recipients completed their degrees without borrowing, with 16 percent borrowing $75,000 or morepare that statistic to the 43 percent of white master’s degree recipients who avoided borrowing altogether, with only 7 percent borrowing $75,000 or more 2 . And after graduation, the Black-white disparity in loan debt triples 3 , according to research by Judith Scott Clayton and Jing Li.
Disproportionate enrollment in for-profit institutions
Researchers point out that student debt inequality may be due to Black students disproportionately enrolling in for-profit institutions 9 . For-profit institutions are often the focus when discussing the issue of Black student debt due to their possible predatory actions. As Victoria Jackson from The Education Trust noted in The Washington Post 10 ,
Some argue that Black students enrolling in for-profit institutions at a higher rate does not justify blaming for-profit institutions for the Black-white student debt gap. When discussing educational options for Black borrowers, Jason Delisle of American Enterprise Institute argues 11 , “Why imply that black students would be better off not going to graduate school at all rather than a for-profit school if a lack of good data means we can’t determine which is the better choice?”
The intersection of race, income, and post-college decisions
Black families have less wealth than white families due to systemic inequalities. Student loans are one of the few attainable options for Black students and their families to finance a college education. A case study by Dominique Baker found the relationship between undergraduate debt and post-college decision-making is partially explained by the themes of “timing and structure of information, family as a source of knowledge, comfort with the amount borrowed, and the realities of postbaccalaureate erican Progress highlighted that diversity in the teacher workforce is also significantly affected by high amounts of student debt for Black teachers, as their salaries are not aligned with their debt amounts 12 .
Overall, there are more vigorous policy conversations regarding student debt and race happening every day. Solutions such as targeted financial literacy programs or stricter regulations on college costs can offer a way to address the Black student debt issue 13 . While the issues are far from being solved, policymakers and researchers should continue to frame discussions about student debt in the context of group differences in order to make more targeted and nuanced policy solutions.
About the Author
Alyse Gray Parker, Graduate Fellow, Academic Year 2019-2020Ms. Gray Parker is currently a third-year Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at San Antonio in Educational Leadership and Policy, with an emphasis in higher education. Her current research interests include higher education policy, access, equity, and affordability issues, and understanding how special-mission institutions such as minority-serving institutions and land-grant universities have a role in the success of underrepresented student populations. Previously, Ms. Gray Parker interned at the Lumina Foundation as a policy intern through the Archer Fellowship program and as an accessibility specialist at Trinity University (San Antonio, TX).
She earned her bachelors of arts degree in psychology and master’s degree in school psychology from The Ohio State University.