Exploring Black graduate women’s perceptions of student loan debt.

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore Black women in graduate school and their experiences with financing their education and perceptions about student loan debt. Findings from the experiences of six Black women enrolled in graduate programs within the College of Education highlight inequality in institutional funding and student loan borrowing. Two research questions set the scope of the study: (1) What are the lived experiences of Black graduate women funding their education? and (2) What are the perceived long-term implications for Black graduate women repaying student loans? Two themes were identified from the first research question. They were: “It’s an Investment in Myself” and “Feels like a Continuous Weight.” Also, two themes resulted from the second research question, which were: “You don’t go and get a PhD without Funding” and “I’m not Fixing to Starve.” In conclusion, we offer recommendations for reparations in the form of scholarships, affordable master’s programs, and guaranteed loan forgiveness, along with implications for future research based on the results from the study.

“All Students Matter”: The Place of Race in Discourse on Student Debt in a Federal Higher Education Policymaking Process

“…Recently, the scope of CRT application has expanded, with scholars using it to understand students’ racialized experiences with student debt. Most of these applications of CRT use counter-stories featuring the narratives and voices of students of color (Bostick et al, 2021; Robie, 2021; Yaskowski, 2020), but we are unaware of inquiries using CRT to examine federal policymaking related to student debt. Although the use of CRT in analyzing federal policy on student debt is novel, we draw from examples, which we review next, of how CRT can offer fresh insights into the racial dynamics underpinning federal policymaking.…”

How Female Undergraduate Students’ Holistic Experiences Predict Their Payment Methods

“…Conversely, the gains in education can be a detriment for many Black women as the additional debt can cause them to add additional jobs to generate revenue or have generational debt (e.g., parents incur debt for students or a spouse) due to never having enough resources to pay off their student loans altogether. As a result, they defer home ownership, start a family, or develop a business [92][93][94][95]. As this population takes steps to improve the outcomes for their family, it is a dual-edged sword-working toward upward mobility while also acquiring more debt at the end of their collegiate journey.…”

I am Because We Are:

“…The double marginalization of race and gender makes the experiences of Black women more complex and frequently complicates the research on graduate education. Contemporary scholarship positions student perceptions of debt (Bostick et al, 2022;Perez-Felkner et al, 2020), mentoring experiences (Davis et al, 2022;Griffin et al, 2020), and the difficulties associated with navigating race and gender in the graduate student experience (Griffith & Ford, 2022;Walkington, 2017). We add the narratives of three Black women enrolled in a HESA program to strengthen our understanding of peer mentoring in the transition to graduate education.…”