@CommunityCap is very excited to partner with @unc_law's @kateelengold, @WeAreUnidosUS, and @LuminaFound to explore the role of debt and debt aversion in higher education equity, with a special focus on Latino/a students.

Congratulations, Nichola!

Want to better understand the methods underlying the study? Check out the Methodological and Technical Appendix. communitycapital.unc.edu/res…. A huge thanks to MetLife Foundation for supporting this work. (11/11)

"Highlighting the information asymmetry experienced by many first-generation students is not intended to obscure the need to address other significant and systemic obstacles" highlighted in these briefs and elsewhere. (11/x)

3) student debt has a substantial effect on long-term financial decisions and aspirations; & 4) there is an opportunity for existing programs to enhance the ways they assist first-gen students by focusing on higher education financing and longer-term financial well-being. (10/x)

Four key themes arose related to this diverse population: 1) first-generation students do face some unique challenges in accessing higher education; 2) *one* critical challenge is a profound information gap, particularly with regard to financing higher education; (9/x)

The final brief looks at first-generation college students and considers what the research can tell us about opportunities for enhancing supportive services. communitycapital.unc.edu/res… (8/x)

Let's "rethink a system" that 🚩relies on unidirectional transfers from parent to child; 🚩can't accommodate family financial emergencies; 🚩punishes borrowers w/ no family financial support systems; & 🚩assumes relatively high level of support from low-income families (7/x)

Our respondents’ actual, lived experiences challenge the value of the current EFC system. Three themes: regular cross-generational transfers of money, the effect of unexpected family financial crises, and an unrealistic expectation concerning family financial contributions. (6/x)

Another brief explores the real-world effects of current financial aid policies, which “are built around the assumption that families can and will contribute financially to the cost of their children's education." communitycapital.unc.edu/res… (5/x)

And yet, even facing crippling debt, our respondents placed value on the intrinsic, non-pecuniary benefits of higher ed. “In our study, even those respondents who were disappointed by the economic effect of their college education found the experience invaluable overall.” (4/x)

Our respondents believed in the economic promise of a college degree, but found that the promise fails to account for relative value, relative cost, and institutional bias and barriers. Evidence of significant variation in perceptions of if and how a degree has "paid off.” (3/x)

One brief investigates the complex calculations students use to assess the value of their higher education. It pushes back on the notion that the value of higher ed can be measured solely by a point-in-time purely financial cost-benefit analysis. communitycapital.unc.edu/res… (2/x)

New research briefs from UNC Center for Community Capital. The research draws out themes and identifies takeaways from in-depth interviews with 65 student loan borrowers about promises and pitfalls of higher education. communitycapital.unc.edu/stu… @kateelengold @julialbarnard (1/x)