The Evidence About the Impact of Student Debt

Abstract

Many assertions about the impact of student debt are grounded in weak evidence and problematic reasoning. It is difficult to sort out cause and effect, as opposed to similar trends, in much of the analysis of the relationship between student debt and asset formation, entrepreneurial activity, and home purchases. Few discussions of student debt clarify the alternatives—if people didn’t borrow for college would they manage to get the same education? If students didn’t borrow, who would pay and what would be the impact of higher taxes or reduced spending in other areas? Moreover, surveys of what people believe to be true are too often confused with evidence about what is actually true.