Posts Tagged: student loans
Low-income Latino students less likely to take on student debt, attend college
The Institute on Assets and Social Policy (IASP) develop an analysis, "Less Debt, More Equity: Lowering Student Debt While Closing the Black-White Wealth Gap," which assesses the effect of public policy on the wealth gap that exists between white and Black households. Wealth inequity has surged over the past several decades, resulting in 1 percent of households controlling 42 percent of U.S. wealth. Also, nearly 50 percent of wealth accumulated over the past three decades has gone directly to pockets of the top 0.1.
Meanwhile, the wealth belonging to the bottom 90 percent of U.S. household continues to lessen. People of color, who are historically disenfranchised and overrepresented in the bottom 90 percent, are growing in numbers. In a matter of short decades, the U.S. will be a "minority majority" nation, which will continue to be affected by preexisting wealth divide. Today, the average white family owns $13 for every $1 held by the average black household and white households own $10 for every $1 held by the average U.S. Latino household.
According to the report, black students tend to take on more debt when attaining postsecondary degrees. They, like other students of color, are more likely to borrow money to attend college, which deepens wealth inequalities. With that said, patterns of student debt differ for black and Latinos students. The report focuses specifically on the black-white wealth gap because of historic roots of inequality and student debt's contribution to wealth disparities, but also acknowledges how inequality influences the experiences of other communities of color in the U.S.
Loan debt and barriers to education impact Latinos differently than black and white households. The data revealed that Latinos attend and graduate from college at lower rates than whites and blacks. Consequently, lower rates of college attendance likely contribute to Latino households owning less student loan debt than blacks and whites. Also, evidence suggests that Latino students are more opposed to taking on student loan debt. Interestingly, Latino students are less likely than blacks and whites to take on debt at public institutions, but they're more likely to take on debt at private for-profit institutions, where they're more likely to depart before completion.
The Latino-white wealth gap could be attributed to differences in education attainment. Latinos households have lower college completion rates and lower levels of household wealth. The report suggests that universal debt reduction policies targeted at borrowers making $50,000 and below would only benefit Latinos moderately; instead white families would have greatly benefit. However, reduction policy targeted at those making $25,000 or less would reduce the racial wealth gap for median and low-wealth Latino households. Latinos in the lowest wealth bracket tend to face a number of barriers when seeking higher education, which reduces the likelihood that they will start college or take out loans. Thus, eliminating some cost challenges should spur enrollment.
The report listed that a number of policies that could make a sizable difference in the lives of students of color. They believe debt-free public higher education should be guaranteed for low-income and middle-class students. Institutional accountability and debt forgiveness should be provided for students attending low-quality institutions. There should be incremental debt forgiveness for students locked into public, low-wage professionals. Also, student loans should be discharged in bankruptcy like other forms of consumer debt.
Source: Published originally on LatinPost.com as Low-Income Latino Students Less Likely to Take on Student Debt, Attend College: Report, by By Nicole Akoukou Thompson, December 1, 2015.
5 facts about Latinos and education
Hispanics cited education as a top issue in 2014, ranking alongside the economy and above health care and immigration in importance, a Pew Research Center survey found.
Economic factors remain an obstacle for enrollment, however. In a 2014 National Journal poll, 66% of Hispanics who got a job or entered the military directly after high school cited the need to help support their family as a reason for not enrolling in college, compared with 39% of whites.
Here are five facts about Latinos and education:
- Over the past decade, the Hispanic high school dropout rate has dropped dramatically. The rate has reached a record low, dropping from 32% in 2000 to 14% in 2013 among those ages 18 to 24 years old. Over the same time period, this has helped lower the U.S. national dropout rate from 12% to 7% – also a record low. However, the Hispanic dropout rate remains higher than it is among blacks (8%), whites (5%) and Asians (4%).
- Hispanics are making big inroads in college enrollment. The number of Hispanics ages 18 to 24 enrolled in a two- or four-year college has more than tripled since 1993. In 2013, 2.2 million Hispanics were enrolled in college, up from 728,000 in 1993 – a 201% increase. By comparison, college enrollment increased by 78% among blacks and 14% among whites over the same time period. Today, Hispanics are the largest minority group on U.S. college campuses.
- Even though more Hispanics are getting a postsecondary education than ever before, Hispanics still lag other groups in obtaining a four-year degree. In 2013, among Hispanics ages 25 to 29, just 15% of Hispanics have a bachelor's degree or higher. By comparison, among the same age group, about 40% of whites have a bachelor's degree or higher (as do 20% of blacks and 60% of Asians). This gap is due in part to the fact that Hispanics are less likely than some other groups to enroll in a four-year college, attend an academically selective college and enroll full-time.
- Another reason Hispanics lag in bachelor's degrees is that nearly half who go to college attend a public two-year school, the highest share of any race or ethnicity. By comparison, among college-goers, 30% of whites, 32% of Asians and 34% of blacks go to a community college.
- Hispanics are significantly less likely than other groups to have student debt. About 22% of young Hispanic households (those headed by someone younger than 40) have education loans. The share is nearly twice as high among young white households (42%) and young black households (40%). This is because, despite growing college enrollment, young Hispanics are not as likely to go to college as some other groups. And among those who do, Hispanics are more likely than others to attend community colleges, which generally have lower tuition than four-year schools.
Source: Pew Research Center, 5 facts about Latinos and education, by Jens Manuel Krogstad, May 26, 2015.
Hispanic Ph.D. science graduates are more likely to accrue debt
"The Price of a Science PhD: Variations in Student Debt Levels Across Disciplines and Race/Ethnicity" examines debt accrued by those who were U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents when they received their doctoral degrees in 2010.
The brief is being released as institutions of higher education, policymakers and others are encouraging minorities to pursue advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Among those who studied a STEM discipline, about 26 percent of whites and Asians owed debt upon graduation, compared with about 49 percent of African Americans and 36 of Hispanics who did. Twenty-five percent of African Americans and 14 percent of Hispanics owed more than $30,000 at graduation, while about 10 percent of whites and Asians graduated with that level of debt.
The authors indicated that financing a Ph.D. in the sciences can result in high levels of debt, particularly for under-represented minorities.
The authors of the brief also looked at the social, behavioral and economic sciences. Compared with STEM, more Ph.D. graduates in those fields carry loans of more than $30,000, with 35 percent of whites and Asians, 44 percent of Hispanics, and 58 percent of African Americans accruing this level of debt.
Those who study these disciplines have a larger burden because they are less likely to receive institutional funding and it takes them more time on average to complete their studies, the authors said. In 2010, the median time to complete a Ph.D. in the social, behavioral and economic sciences is 7.7 years compared with 6.3 years for a student studying in a STEM field.
Disparities still existed along racial and ethnic lines even when students’ time to completion did not exceed the median. Among STEM students who earned their doctorate within the median 6.3 years: 23 percent of white and Asian recipients, 32 percent of Hispanic recipients, and 43 percent of African American recipients completed their studies with debt.
The authors of the brief also looked at debt accumulation along gender lines. Of those who studied the social, behavioral or economic sciences, females were more likely than their male peers to owe debt.
Source: Published originally on American Institutes for Research (AIR) as BlackEngineer.com as African American and Hispanic Ph.D. Science Graduates Are More Likely to Accrue Debt than Their White and Asian Peers, Study Finds, May 2013.