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The Real College Debt Crisis: How Student Borrowing Threatens Financial Well-Being and Erodes the American Dream
250Overview
Higher education plays a critical role in the economy and society of the United States, creating a ladder of economic opportunity for American children, especially for those in poverty. Unfortunately, higher education today increasingly reinforces patterns of relative privilege, particularly as students without the benefit of affluent parents rely more and more on student loans to finance college access. This book presents penetrating new information about the fiscal realities of the current debt-based college loan system and raises tough questions about the extent to which student loans can be a viable way to facilitate equitable access to higher education.
The book opens with relevant parts of the life stories of two students—one who grew up poor and had to take on high amounts of student debt, and another whose family could offer financial help at critical times. These real-life examples provide invaluable insight into the student debt problem and help make the complex data more understandable. A wide range of readers—from scholars of poverty, social policy, and educational equality to policymakers to practitioners in the fields of student financial aid and financial planning—will find the information in this text invaluable.
- Reveals the inadequacy of the scope of the current educational and economic policy debates, including moves to funnel low-income children toward two-year degrees, structure alternative debt repayment schedules, and constrain increases in college tuition
- Answers the question: "Does the student who goes to college and graduates but has outstanding student debt achieve similar financial outcomes to the student who graduates from college without student debt?"
- Examines an important subject of interest to educators, students, and general readers that is related to the larger topics of education, economics, social problems, social policy, public policy, debt, and asset building
- Provides empirical evidence and theoretical support for a fundamental shift in U.S. financial aid policy, from debt dependence to asset empowerment, including an explanation of how institutional facilitation makes Children's Savings Accounts potentially potent levers for children's educational attainment and economic well-being, before, during, and after college
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781440836466 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | ABC-CLIO, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 07/14/2015 |
| Pages: | 250 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d) |
About the Author
Melinda K. Lewis is associate professor of practice in the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas and policy director of the Assets and Education Initiative.
Table of Contents
Foreword Martha J. Kanter vii
Acknowledgments xiii
1 Introduction 1
Part 1 Student Loans: A Paradigm in Crisis
2 Two Paths, One Dream 17
3 Education Is Still Our Best Hope 43
4 The Student Loan Program Has an Equity Problem 71
5 Evidence of a Paradigm in Crisis 91
6 Delayed Dreams 113
7 Can't See the Forest for the Trees 125
Part 2 From Debt Dependence to Asset Empowerment
8 Assets Provide a Launching Pad for Economic Mobility 145
9 Children's Savings Accounts: The Next Evolution in Financial Aid 163
Part 3 Conclusion
10 Conclusion 195
Appendix: Methods 205
Bibliography 211
Index 239
What People are Saying About This
"Higher education is a path to economic mobility and America's global competitiveness. Elliott and Lewis brilliantly demonstrate how broken that pathway is and how its brokenness warps aspirations. Their book provides a blueprint to reinvigorating the educational pathway for the 21st century."
"Elliott and Lewis have given us an important book. . . . [They] remind us that economic mobility depends on federal, state, and institutional systems working in concert to achieve the vision of prosperous families in a vibrant society . . . and encourage us to take bold steps forward on a new path to the American Dream."
"Higher education, once seen as the great equalizer, too often leaves students on divergent tracks: one leading to success for the haves, the other to bitter disappointment and big debt for the have-nots. This new book dares to imagine a day when society invests more in needy students before they go to college, so they can borrow less and have more once they finish."
"In an era of increasing inequality, ensuring access to a high-quality education can be a great equalizer. But an over-reliance on student loans has created new obstacles in the form of rising costs and debilitating debt. In their paradigm-shifting critique of our financial aid system, Elliott and Lewis explore the potential of elevating the role of savings and assets. Their promising and forward-looking alternatives will undoubtedly shake up the policy conversation."
"Elliott and Lewis carefully document that relying on student loans as the primary instrument for college financing is woefully ineffective. Too many takers of student loans suffer in the long run, and they have run up a debt tab of over one trillion dollars—more than total credit card debt. This misguided policy has run its course. But what is the alternative? Elliott and Lewis suggest greater reliance on asset accumulation—through Children's Savings Accounts—before college. In the words of Elliott and Lewis, this is a paradigm shift. Whatever we call it, the time for this policy change has arrived."