Recent trends in higher education financing have increased students’ need to borrow to afford college. This brief examines how federal student loan borrowing has changed from 2000 to 2016 by student race/ethnicity using logistic regression analysis and data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). We find that the odds of borrowing have diverged over time across racial and ethnic subgroups even after controlling for institutional sector and students’ financial circumstances. This divergence in student loan borrowing has important implications for policymakers and researchers interested in closing racial gaps in college access and success.
Authorship order was determined alphabetically. We thank Dr. Nicholas Hillman for his encouragement and guidance. We also thank seminar participants at the NCES Data Institute, current and former staff with the National Center for Education Statistics and the Association for Institutional Research, particularly Sean Simone for sharing his knowledge of National Postsecondary Student Aid Study survey changes over time, as well as Tinsley Smith and Conor Griffiths for their enthusiastic support. This material is based on work supported by the Association for
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