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Increases in Graduate Student Debt in the US: 2000 to 2016

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Abstract

With enrollments rising in recent years, more than half of all graduate level students in US institutions take on educational loans. Using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), this study examined educational debt for graduate and professional students in 2000 and 2016 and explored whether significant predictors of debt changed over time. Results show that those with undergraduate debt were more likely to take on loans for graduate school and that Black/African American students borrowed significantly more than graduate students in other racial/ethnic groups. Findings also showed that institutional reliance on tuition and being Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino were more significantly associated with borrowing in 2016 than in 2000. Consistent with notions of human capital, graduate level education may offer higher long-term salaries and higher quality of life. However, increasing graduate level debt may curtail other life choices, may discourage students from enrolling and persisting, or may motivate degree earners to pursue different program or career options due to accumulated loans.

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Fig. 1

Source: NCES TrendStats for NPSAS 2000–2016

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Notes

  1. Students enrolled in post-baccalaureate and post-master’s certificate programs and those who were not enrolled in a degree program were excluded from this analysis.

  2. Due to small sample sizes, particularly in the 2000 sample, racial categories for American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander, and more than one race were collapsed into the “other” category. Analyses using these racial groups as their own categories produce unreliable estimates.

  3. Instruction and academic expenditures per FTE were calculated from IPEDS as the sum of (instruction expenses) + (academic support expenses), divided by full time equivalent (FTE) enrollment.

  4. Tuition reliance was calculated from IPEDS values following the formula used in the Delta Cost Project data: (revenues from tuition and fees)/(total operating revenues).

  5. We ran analyses with and without institutions with a parent–child flag for financial reporting in IPEDS and found that the results did not change appreciably when these institutions were excluded. Because differences were relatively small and because omitting these institutions would result in a loss of a substantial number of respondents, we included flagged institutions in the analyses. In 2000, 14% of institutions reported data at the “parent” level; in 2016, 12% of institutions reported data at the “parent” level. The parent–child flag in IPEDS is an indicator of the financial reporting relationship among institutions with branch campuses. In parent–child cases, the institution reports information to IPEDS at the “parent” level, which means that it includes financial data for the main institution in addition to branch or satellite (“child”) institutions.

  6. Combined marginal effects measure the effect of a covariate on the combined likelihood of phases 1 and 2 of the hurdle model, or the combined likelihood that a student will borrow (step 1) and how much the student is predicted to borrow (step 2).

  7. International students are not eligible for federal title IV grants, thus the amount borrowed for graduate education is necessarily lower.

  8. Income and undergraduate borrowed are both logged in the analyses to allow for easier interpretation of results. A logged independent variable means that each 100% (one-unit) change in the independent variable corresponds with a change in the dependent variable equal to the beta coefficient for that covariate. Thus, a ten percent increase corresponds with a change in the dependent variable equal to the beta coefficient divided by ten.

  9. For many graduate students in 2016, their source of income is their graduate assistantship. Thus, similar results are found for assistantship amount and income.

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  1. The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Karen L. Webber

  2. RTI International, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Rachel Burns

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Webber, K.L., Burns, R. Increases in Graduate Student Debt in the US: 2000 to 2016. Res High Educ 62, 709–732 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-020-09611-x

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