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Using U.S. Department of Education data, the report highlights low repayment rates and discusses risks for cash-strapped families, including debt collection and limited discharge options. 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The views expressed in this report are those of its author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Joyce Foundation or its officers or employees. The author would also like to thank Rachel Fishman and Sabrina Detlef for their keen editing skills. He would also thank Katherine Portnoy, Amanda Dean, and Natalya Brill for their communications, production, and data visualization support.  \n[newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/how-baylor-university-steered-low-income-families-to-debt/ 2](newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/how-baylor-university-steered-low-income-families-to-debt/ 2)  \nAbout the Author(s)  \nStephen Burd is a senior writer and editor with the Education Policy program at New America, where he has helped shape the organization’s work on higher education policy and on student financial aid issues.  \nAbout New America  \nWe are dedicated to renewing the promise of America by continuing the quest to realize our nation’s highest ideals, honestly confronting the challenges caused by rapid technological and social change, and seizing the opportunities those changes create.  \nAbout Education Policy  \nWe use original research and policy analysis to help solve the nation’s critical education problems, crafting objective analyses and suggesting new ideas for policymakers, educators, and the public at large.  \nAbout Higher Education  \nWe are researchers, writers, and advocates from diverse backgrounds who shed light on the thorniest issues in higher education and develop studentcentered federal policy recommendations.  \n[newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/how-baylor-university-steered-low-income-families-to-debt/ 3](newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/how-baylor-university-steered-low-income-families-to-debt/ 3)  \nContents  \nIntroduction 5  \nBecoming a “Modern University” 10  \nFinancial Aid Leveraging Comes to Baylor 12  \nBaylor on the Rise? 14  \nPlaying the Rankings Game 17  \nA “New Era for Baylor” 18  \nLosing Its “Moral Compass” 21  \nAn Enrollment Management Scandal 22  \nConclusion 25  \n[newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/how-baylor-university-steered-low-income-families-to-debt/ 4](newamerica.org/education-policy/reports/how-baylor-university-steered-low-income-families-to-debt/ 4)  \nIntroduction  \nOn October 13, 2021, Baylor University officials woke up to a public-relations nightmare: an exposé in The Wall Street Journal entitled “How Baylor Steered  \nLower-Income Parents to Debt They Couldn’tAfford.”1  \nThe newspaper revealed that the world’s largest Baptist university had been  \npushing low-and lower-middle-income families to borrow substantial  \namounts of federal Parent PLUS loans “to cover rising tuition,” leaving them“with debt they can’t repay.” U.S. Department of Education data showed that after two years in repayment,“only about a quarter of [all] Baylor parents paid down any of what they originally borrowed.”2 The university was, in other  \nwords, knowingly putting these cash-strapped families in harm’s way.  \nCongress created the Parent PLUS loan program in 1980 to help middle-and upper-middle-income students and their families afford expensive colleges.3  \nFor low-income families with few assets, taking out PLUS loans is an  \nextremely risky proposition. Unlike federal student loans, which are strictly  \nlimited to $5,500 to $7,500 per year for most students under the age of 24,  \nPLUS loans allow parents to borrow up to the full cost of attendance, which includes not only tuition and fees but living expenses as well, regardless of their income. To obtain the loan, a parent need only pass an adverse credit  \nhistory che","cbCaiqQLhLjOWGoR","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiqQLhLjOWGoR","pdf",1030036,33,"English","# Introduction\n## Becoming a “Modern University”\n## Financial Aid Leveraging Comes to Baylor\n## Playing the Rankings Game\n## A “New Era for Baylor”\n## Losing Its “Moral Compass”\n## An Enrollment Management Scandal\n# Conclusion","[{\"question\":\"What triggered the public scrutiny of Baylor University?\",\"answer\":\"On October 13, 2021, Baylor officials faced a public-relations crisis after a Wall Street Journal exposé reported that Baylor steered lower-income parents to debt they couldn’t afford.\"},{\"question\":\"Why are Parent PLUS loans considered especially risky for low-income families?\",\"answer\":\"The report explains that Parent PLUS loans allow parents to borrow up to the full cost of attendance and rely on an adverse credit history check that does not assess repayment ability; the debt also generally cannot be discharged in bankruptcy and is subject to strong debt collection.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the report connect Baylor’s recruitment of low-income students to its use of PLUS loans?\",\"answer\":\"The report states that Baylor aggressively recruited low-income students between 2010 and 2015 and then steered those families toward PLUS loans likely to be difficult to repay, linking these actions to the institution’s leaders’ outsized ambitions and funding needs.\"}]","A Case of Predatory Inclusion at Baylor University - How the Baptist Institution Steered Low-Income Families to Hazardous Debt as it Sought National Prominence | PDF",1792057142,83]