Ensuring a More Equitable Future: Exploring and Measuring the Relationship between Family Wealth, Education Debt, and Wealth Accumulation
Saved in:
| Title: | Ensuring a More Equitable Future: Exploring and Measuring the Relationship between Family Wealth, Education Debt, and Wealth Accumulation |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Addo, Fenaba R., Postsecondary Value Commission |
| Source: | Postsecondary Value Commission. 2021. |
| Availability: | Postsecondary Value Commission. Available from: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. e-mail: ValueCommission@IHEP.org; Website: https://www.postsecondaryvalue.org/ |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 29 |
| Publication Date: | 2021 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Evaluative |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Debt (Financial), Family Financial Resources, Student Loan Programs, College Students, Racial Differences, Measurement Techniques, Loan Default |
| Abstract: | The economic value students derive from postsecondary education relies on both earnings and wealth outcomes. And while sufficient earnings can create economic stability, wealth--which is the total value of assets (what one owns) minus total value of liabilities or debts (what one owes)--is key to the security necessary to withstand life's financial shocks, including the health crises and job losses much of the nation is experiencing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Postsecondary education has a direct impact on students' ability to build wealth (e.g., housing or retirement savings, investments, businesses, and investment farms and real estate) through the earning power associated with credentials and through student loan debt, or negative wealth, that many students rely on to finance their education. Historic wealth inequality resulting from centuries of racist policies in the United States heightens the need to focus on wealth outcomes in the context of defining and measuring how institutions of higher education deliver--or fail to deliver--equitable value to Black, Latinx, Indigenous, underrepresented Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), low-income, and female students. This paper explores the complex and cyclical relationship between family wealth, educational debt, and wealth accumulation, with a special focus on racial/ethnic disparities in student loan debt burdens and negative repayment outcomes such as default. It then discusses both the ideal dataset for fully understanding this relationship in the context of the Postsecondary Value Commission's Value Framework as well as public data that are currently available and their limitations. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2021 |
| Accession Number: | ED612727 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | The economic value students derive from postsecondary education relies on both earnings and wealth outcomes. And while sufficient earnings can create economic stability, wealth--which is the total value of assets (what one owns) minus total value of liabilities or debts (what one owes)--is key to the security necessary to withstand life's financial shocks, including the health crises and job losses much of the nation is experiencing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Postsecondary education has a direct impact on students' ability to build wealth (e.g., housing or retirement savings, investments, businesses, and investment farms and real estate) through the earning power associated with credentials and through student loan debt, or negative wealth, that many students rely on to finance their education. Historic wealth inequality resulting from centuries of racist policies in the United States heightens the need to focus on wealth outcomes in the context of defining and measuring how institutions of higher education deliver--or fail to deliver--equitable value to Black, Latinx, Indigenous, underrepresented Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), low-income, and female students. This paper explores the complex and cyclical relationship between family wealth, educational debt, and wealth accumulation, with a special focus on racial/ethnic disparities in student loan debt burdens and negative repayment outcomes such as default. It then discusses both the ideal dataset for fully understanding this relationship in the context of the Postsecondary Value Commission's Value Framework as well as public data that are currently available and their limitations. |
|---|
