Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: Low-Income Expectations and Student Loan Repayment Plan Choice

经济学博士论文研究：低收入预期与学生贷款还款计划选择

• 批准号: 2049358
• 负责人: Scott Imberman
• 金额: $ 2.35万
• 依托单位: Michigan State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-08-01 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2049358&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Economics; Low

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Most individuals in the United States who attend college borrow money from the Federal government in the form of student loans. After they leave school, borrowers pay back their student loans by making monthly loan payments. The minimum payment Federal student loan borrowers must make is determined by a choice between: (1) a mortgage style repayment plan with fixed monthly payments and (2) income-based repayment (IBR) plans where minimum payments are related to the borrower’s income. One reason borrowers may choose mortgage style repayment plans rather than IBR plans is mis-judgement of risk of earning a low income. This research will explore whether IBR uptake can be improved by providing information about low-income risk to seniors and juniors in college. The researchers will run an information experiment at a large university in the U.S. Half of surveyed students will be provided with information on low-income risks tailored to their specific majors. The project will then examine whether provision of the information changes student preferences for IBR plans and how the responses vary by student characteristics. The outcomes of this proposal will improve the understanding of federal student loans and will have potential implications regarding the communication of these loans. Income-based student loan repayment provides borrowers with insurance against high repayment burdens relative to their income. Students on IBR plans are significantly less likely to default on their student loans. Despite these benefits, most students choose to stay on mortgage style repayment plans where payments do not change with the borrower's income. This project will explore whether this outcome is partially caused by borrowers having low subjective probabilities of earning a low-income after they graduate. This hypothesis will be tested using a survey experiment fielded to juniors and seniors at a large university in the U.S. Half of survey respondents will be provided the information on the incomes of college graduates with their major. These students will then be asked about their future income expectations and their choice of student loan repayment plan under a hypothetical borrowing scenario. The results of this project will advance the body of knowledge on federal student loans.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该奖项的全部或部分资金根据《2021 年美国救援计划法案》（公法 117-2）提供。在美国，大多数上大学的人在毕业后都会以学生贷款的形式向联邦政府借钱。学校，借款人通过每月还款偿还学生贷款 贷款 联邦学生借款人必须支付的最低还款额由以下选择决定：(1) 每月固定还款的抵押贷款式还款计划和 (2) 基于收入的还款。 （国际商业联合会）最低还款额与借款人收入相关的计划。借款人选择抵押贷款式还款计划而不是 IBR 计划的原因之一是对低收入风险的错误判断。本研究将探讨是否可以通过提供信息来提高 IBR 的采用率。研究人员将在美国一所大型大学进行一项有关大学高年级和低收入风险的信息实验。然后，该项目将向一半的受访学生提供针对其特定专业的低收入风险信息。检查是否有规定这些信息改变了学生对 IBR 计划的偏好，以及学生特征的反应如何变化，该提案的结果将增进对联邦学生贷款的理解，并对这些基于收入的学生贷款偿还提供的沟通产生潜在影响。相对于其收入而言，拥有高还款负担保险的借款人拖欠学生贷款的可能性要小得多，尽管有这些好处，但大多数学生还是选择继续使用抵押贷款式还款计划，因为这种计划的还款额不会随借款人的收入而变化。本项目将探讨这一结果是否是。部分原因是借款人毕业后获得低收入的主观可能性较低。这一假设将通过针对美国一所大型大学的大三和大四学生的调查实验进行检验。一半的调查受访者将获得有关该问题的信息。然后，这些学生将被询问他们未来的收入预期以及他们在假设的借贷情况下选择的学生贷款偿还计划。该项目的结果将增进对联邦学生贷款的了解。奖项反映通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，NSF 的法定使命被认为值得支持。