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In the media
Wealthy Students' Borrowing Spikes
"The percent of low-income students borrowing for a bachelor’s degree is unconscionably high, particularly if you consider their debt loads as a percent of their family income and wealth. Even if low-income students and high-income students were borrowing the exact same amount for college, that debt is a far greater burden relative to their family wealth.”
Liberal commentators didn’t directly dispute the idea that the wealthy could be helping to drive the narrative, although they reacted to the report by saying it also showed high debt levels for poor students. Student loans hitting “middle-income families over a 20-year period” might explain their political salience at the moment, Mark Huelsman, associate director for policy and research at the liberal think tank Demos, said in an email.
“But I’d like for us to keep our eye on the ball here a bit: the percent of low-income students borrowing for a bachelor’s degree is unconscionably high, particularly if you consider their debt loads as a percent of their family income and wealth,” Huelsman wrote. “Even if low-income students and high-income students were borrowing the exact same amount for college, that debt is a far greater burden relative to their family wealth.”
Press release/statement
