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An Examination of Student Loan Borrowers’ Attitudes Toward Debt Before and During COVID-19

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Advances in Quantitative Ethnography (ICQE 2022)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1785))

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Abstract

Research has robustly documented the long-term life impacts of student loan debt on borrowers while in college and post-graduation. During the pandemic, repayment policies attempting to alleviate the debt burden were instituted to account for changes in income during government lockdowns. Since these reforms were implemented, what is needed is a more nuanced examination of the differences in post-graduation attitudes towards student loan debt in both pre-COVID and during the pandemic (after supportive government policy). This study utilizes Epistemic Network Analysis to identify and illustrate the connections in attitudes about debt between pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 conversations. The results from this study illustrate statistically significant changes in attitudes towards debt, with pre-COVID-19 group members discussing how their negative feelings towards their debt drive their life choices while members of the COVID-19 conversations focused on repayment and hopeful feelings. Thus, this work positions itself to contribute to our understanding of the potential impact of debt-relief policies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19143, USA

    Dara Bright & Amanda Barany

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  1. Dara Bright
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  2. Amanda Barany
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Correspondence to Dara Bright .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Crina Damşa

  2. Drexel University School of Education, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Amanda Barany

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Bright, D., Barany, A. (2023). An Examination of Student Loan Borrowers’ Attitudes Toward Debt Before and During COVID-19. In: Damşa, C., Barany, A. (eds) Advances in Quantitative Ethnography. ICQE 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1785. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31726-2_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31726-2_13

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-31726-2

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