Supporting Success for Parenting Students at Rural-Serving Institutions

A new analysis finds that the number of college graduates with high levels of student debt has skyrocketed since the early nineties, even after accounting for inflation. In 1993, 1.3 percent of graduating seniors with student loans owed $40,000 or more (in 2004 dollars). In 2004, 7.7 percent owed more than $40,000. That’s a 10-fold jump from approximately 7,000 to 77,550 new...

This national survey found that Americans see paying off student loans as a serious problem for both middle-class and low-income families, and they support reforms to make loan payments more manageable.

The Project on Student Debt filed an administrative petition with the Department of Education for a rulemaking process to make student loan repayment more fair and manageable. Many of the goals of the petition were eventually accomplished through the legislative rather than regulatory process, with the passage of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007.

This tax model provides more meaningful relief to households with burdensome student debt than the current student loan interest deduction. It rewards work, encourages timely payment, and recognizes family responsibilities.

This white paper analyzes the U.S. student loan programs' strengths and weaknesses and identifies practical ways to achieve a more rational and effective balance of borrower obligations and protections.

This paper examines the extent to which student loan debt discourages family formation, and proposes a policy to ease the burden of loan repayment for borrowers who have children.