Abstract

Student loan debt and delinquency is a mounting problem among college graduates. To show students the consequences of debt-financing their education in an economic context, the author describes a collaborative problem-based learning activity designed for small, introductory economics courses. The activity has three parts: an introduction to the current statistics and trends on student loan debt, a postmortem analysis of three fictitious borrowers, and a pre-mortem analysis of the student’s education, career plan, and financial goals. The activity applies economic topics including pre- and postmortem analysis, financial literacy, and opportunity cost and tradeoffs. Pre- and post-activity survey results find evidence of students improving their knowledge of their own student loan debt situation, salary outlook, and the repayment plans available to them post-graduation.

摘要

学生贷款债务和违约率是大学毕业生中日益严重的问题。为了向学生展示在经济背景下以债务资助其教育的后果，作者描述了一种针对问题的协作式学习活动，专门针对小型入门经济学课程而设计。该活动分为三个部分：介绍学生贷款债务的最新统计数据和趋势，对三个虚拟借款人的事后分析以及对学生的教育，职业计划和财务目标的事前分析。该活动应用经济主题，包括事前和事后分析，财务知识，机会成本和权衡。活动前和活动后的调查结果表明，有证据表明学生提高了对自己的学生贷款债务状况，薪资前景，