It takes money to make money: Inequity in psychology graduate student borrowing and financial stressors.

Abstract

Nationwide, the student debt crisis has been worsening, exacerbated by gradual changes to higher education funding since the 1980s. Recent studies (e.g., Kurz, Li, & Vine, 2018) have demonstrated that Millennials are the most educated, most student loan-indebted, and poorest (in income and wealth) generation to date. Doran, Kraha, Marks, Ameen, and El-Ghoroury (2016) similarly demonstrated that student loan debt in graduate psychology is substantial. However, Doran and colleagues' results diverged from the extant literature in observing no between-groups demographic differences in borrowing. Thus, first, the present study sought to provide an updated view of student loan debt in graduate psychology education, and to examine changes in student loan borrowing over time. Second, we sought to expand understanding from a focus solely on cumulative debt to include financial stressors. Finally, we sought to address the discrepancies between Doran and colleagues' study and the extant literature by examining whether psychology trainees and professionals from marginalized backgrounds are disproportionately affected by student loan debt and financial stressors. Consistent with most extant literature and contrary to Doran and colleagues, Black/African American participants and participants with lower socioeconomic status reported borrowing more, though no differences were observed by sex. Participants with lower socioeconomic status, as well as students and early career psychologists (those who received their doctorates within the last 10 years), also reported greater financial distress, and greater impacts on their personal and professional lives. Finally, student loan borrowing was shown to increase over time, even adjusting for inflation. Results and implications will be discussed.

Clinical psychology PhD students' admission experiences: Implications for recruiting racial/ethnic minority and LGBTQ students

“…Even still, racial/ethnic minority students considered financial factors (receiving a funding incentive) and program outcomes (preparation for board certification and program length) as more important in final decisions compared with non‐Hispanic White students, which is in line with prior work that documents the uneven burden of student debt and debt‐related stress on marginalized students. For example, Wilcox et al (2019) estimated a mean cumulative borrowing of approximately $122,195 for psychology PhD students, an astounding amount in and of itself. However, Lantz and Davis (2017) also found significant between‐group differences in graduate student debt across gender, SES, race, and their intersections, such that women of color borrowed more to finance their education than both White women and men of color, and women from lower SES families borrowed more than both men from lower SES families and women from upper SES families.…”

“…The weight of financial debt and the stress associated with pursuing a doctorate in psychology was clearly documented in the landmark study by Doran et al (2016). However, as illustrated in work by Lantz and Davis (2017) and Wilcox et al (2019), this burden is unevenly distributed, with marginalized students (i.e., racial/ethnic minorities, women, and lower socioeconomic status [SES] students, and students at the intersections of those identities) bearing the heaviest financial burden. Moreover, the burden of student debt shows little sign of slowing: the more recent estimates observed by Wilcox et al (2019) were higher than those found in the study by Doran et al (2016) published just 3 years earlier.…”

“…However, as illustrated in work by Lantz and Davis (2017) and Wilcox et al (2019), this burden is unevenly distributed, with marginalized students (i.e., racial/ethnic minorities, women, and lower socioeconomic status [SES] students, and students at the intersections of those identities) bearing the heaviest financial burden. Moreover, the burden of student debt shows little sign of slowing: the more recent estimates observed by Wilcox et al (2019) were higher than those found in the study by Doran et al (2016) published just 3 years earlier. Furthermore, a 2018 survey found that LGBTQ students carried, on average, $112,607 in student debt, which is $16,000 more than their cisgender heterosexual peers' average debt of $96,211 (Marquit, 2018).…”

Stalling at the starting line: First-generation college students’ debt, economic stressors, and delayed life milestones in professional psychology.

“…In the context of ever-increasing costs of education and living, access to higher education and graduate study may be increasingly limited. This may dissuade prospective students, especially those from minoritized backgrounds, from pursuing graduate psychology education, risking what Wilcox et al (2021) termed "pric[ing] the diversity out of graduate psychology" (p. 14).…”

“…d Graduate student financial stressors-professional (Wilcox et al, 2021). e Graduate student financial stressors-personal (Wilcox et al, 2021). f Perceived graduate program support (Wilcox et al, 2021).…”