S6E5. What Can We Do About the Student Loan Crisis? with Adam Looney

As we continue exploring the topic of economic equality and the
different factors that influence a fair and equitable economic
experience, today we are tackling the topic of student loan
debt. 





Americans owe $1.77 trillion in federal and private student loan
debt as of the second quarter of 2023, and questions about
whether and how borrowers should be required to repay that debt
have become part of an ongoing national conversation.  





Here to help us unpack all of this is Adam Looney. Adam is a
professor and executive director of the Mariner S. Eccles
Institute for Quantitative Analysis of Markets and Organizations
here at the Eccles School. He is a nationally recognized expert
on student debt, having testified before Congress multiple times
on the topic of student debt forgiveness.





With host Frances Johnson, Adam shares his thoughts on how we got
to this place of burdensome student debt. He’ll dive into the
quest for equity in higher education
accessibility, repayment options, and his thoughts on
student loan forgiveness.





Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School
of Business and is produced by University.FM.

Episode Quotes:




Can we make higher education equitable and
efficient?





[23:48] The reality is that college is a very good investment for
a very large share of Americans. And I think the problem is
identifying programs and institutions that are effective at
serving disadvantaged, low-income students who historically had
not enrolled in very high numbers. If we could have increased
enrollment at good-quality programs and provided better guidance
to steer students into programs that they can complete and that
lead to good-quality jobs, then I don't think we would have a
repayment crisis.





Why do we have student loan programs?





[08:36] We have a student loan program for two reasons. One is to
help people pursue. a college degree and graduate programs. And
second, to make access to college more equitable in the U.S. and
around the world, whether you go to college, whether you complete
college, whether you go to graduate school, is closely related to
family income, your family background, and whether your parents
went to college.





The uneven burden of student debt





[11:18] On average, college students do well because student loan
borrowers, to a large degree, reflect who goes to college; the
outcomes of student loan borrowers look a lot like the outcomes
of typical college students. And so, it's important to remember
that student loan borrowers are more likely to have a job. They
earn more, they're more likely to be able to own a house, and
they're more likely to become married. So, it's not a universal
impediment to being able to launch a career and a life.





Why does Adam think that college is a high-quality
investment?





[10:10] I think college is a very high-quality investment. It is
a key way where Americans move up the economic ladder. It's a
vehicle of social mobility. It's obvious that there are huge
inequities in terms of who gets to go to college, who's able to
persist and complete a degree, and who gets to go to graduate
school. But it seems like access to financial aid alone is not
able to overcome those barriers and, in fact, seems to have made
many millions of these often disadvantaged students worse off.



Show Links:

Adam Looney LinkedIn

Adam Looney - The David Eccles School of Business

Adam Looney | Brookings