Community College Students’ Assessments of the Costs and Benefits of Borrowing to Finance Higher Education

Abstract

Objective:The purpose of this study was to understand how community college students assess the risks and rewards of using personal loans to achieve their higher education goals.Method:Interviews were conducted with 12 federal loan borrowers attending a large, urban community college in Texas during the Spring 2013 semester.Results:Findings from thematic analysis of the data revealed that although these students typically viewed borrowing as a last resort, they believed that loans had contributed to their academic momentum and success. However, these borrowers had many misconceptions about debt management and loan repayment. Many of the students expressed a willingness to borrow US$100,000 or more to achieve their educational goals. Collectively, our results suggest that community college students often borrow out of necessity to address immediate liquidity constraints without the requisite information needed to adequately assess the long-term implications of this financial decision.Contributions:Our findings serve as the basis for recommended changes to federal loan policies and financial aid counseling practices that could better protect community college borrowers, and help these students more accurately assess the costs and benefits of using loans.