American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Student Loan Nudges: Experimental Evidence on Borrowing and Educational Attainment
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 11,
no. 2, May 2019
(pp. 108–41)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
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.Citation
Marx, Benjamin M., and Lesley J. Turner. 2019. "Student Loan Nudges: Experimental Evidence on Borrowing and Educational Attainment." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 11 (2): 108–41. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180279Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
- I22 Educational Finance; Financial Aid
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
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