The Debt Divide: The Racial and Class Bias Behind the "New Normal" of Student Borrowing

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Date
2015
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Publisher
Demos
Abstract

This report provides a comprehensive look at how the “new normal” of debt-financed college impacts the whole pipeline of decision-making related to college. This includes, whether to attend college at all, what type college to attend and whether to complete a degree, all the way to a host of choices about what to do for a living, and whether to save for retirement or buy a home. In an America where Black and Latino households have just a fraction of the wealth of white households, where communities of color have for decades been shut out of traditional ladders of economic opportunity, a system based entirely on acquiring debt to get ahead may have very different impacts on some communities over others.

Description
Keywords
community college students, college costs, student financial aid, student loans, students of color
Citation