Student Loan Nudges: Experimental Evidence on Borrowing and Educational Attainment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Marx, Benjamin M.; Turner, Lesley J.
• 署名单位: University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180279
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 108-141
• 关键词: labor-market returns; college; INFORMATION; performance; decisions; impacts; program; access; aid

摘要

We provide the first experimental evidence on the effect of student loans on educational attainment. Loan amounts listed in financial aid award letters (offers) do not alter students' choice sets but significantly affect borrowing. Students randomly receiving a nonzero offer were 40 percent more likely to borrow than those who received a $0 offer. Per additional borrower, loans increased by $4,000, GPA and completed credits increased by 30 percent, and transfers to four-year public colleges increased by 11 percentage points. Cost-benefit and theoretical analyses suggest nonzero offers enhance welfare, yet over five million students are not currently offered loans.