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.

该奖项是根据2021年《美国救援计划法》（公法117-2）全部或部分资助的。美国上大学的大多数人都以学生贷款的形式向联邦政府借钱。离开学校后，借款人通过每月支付贷款来偿还学生贷款。联邦学生贷款借款人必须做出的最低付款是由以下选择确定的：（1）抵押样式还款计划具有固定的每月付款和（2）基于收入的还款计划（IBR）计划，其中最低付款与借款人的收入有关。借款人可以选择抵押风格还款计划而不是IBR计划的原因之一是裁定赚取低收入的风险。这项研究将通过向大学中的老年人和大三学生提供有关低收入风险的信息来探讨是否可以改善IBR吸收。研究人员将在美国一所大型大学进行一项信息实验，其中一半的调查学生将获得有关其特定专业量身定制的低收入风险的信息。然后，该项目将检查信息的提供是否会改变学生对IBR计划的偏好以及回答如何因学生特征而异。该提案的结果将提高对联邦学生贷款的理解，并将对这些贷款的沟通产生潜在的影响。基于收入的学生贷款还款为借款人提供了相对于其收入的高还款伯伦斯的保险。 IBR计划的学生拖欠学生贷款的可能性较小。尽管有这些好处，但大多数学生还是选择保留抵押风格的还款计划，在这种计划中，付款不会随借款人的收入而变化。该项目将探讨该结果是否部分是由于借款人在毕业后赚取低收入的可能性较低而引起的。该假设将通过对美国一所大型大学的大三学生和老年人进行的调查实验进行检验，其中一半的受访者将获得有关大学毕业生收入的信息。然后，将询问这些学生的未来收入期望以及他们在假设的借贷方案下对学生贷款还款计划的选择。该项目的结果将推进联邦学生贷款的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来诚实地通过评估来诚实地支持。