- https://doi.org/10.1080/10632921.2026.2629972
Where Have All the Black Arts Graduates Gone? Student Debt, Race, & Career Outcomes for Arts Graduates in the U. S.
This study examines how race and student debt influence career outcomes for Black arts graduates in the U.S., finding that Black graduates are more likely to borrow, owe more, and are 12.5% less likely to work in the arts compared to White peers, highlighting systemic disparities and policy implications.
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Given that structural and systemic racism in the United States has led to significant wealth gaps for some global majority populations, student debt may have even more costly impacts on the career outcomes for Black arts graduates in comparison to their White peers. Therefore, we investigated the research question, what effects do race and student loan debt have on the career choices of U.S. Black college arts graduates? To answer this research question, we tested our hypothesis using data from the National Survey for College Graduates (NSCG). Relative to White arts graduates, Black arts graduates are more likely to have borrowed to pay for school, still owe on their debt, and conditional on having borrowed and owing; they borrowed and owe more. They are also 12.5% less likely to work in the arts relative to White arts graduates, and to pay for college with funding sources that do not require repayment such as assistance from family and personal savings. As a result of these findings, we pose implications for cultural policy, as well as pose further research for future inquiries.
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