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This study provides large-scale quantitative evidence of loan aversion in the United States using survey data from over 6,000 individuals. Across three groups, loan aversion appears in roughly 20–40% of high school seniors, with lower rates among community college students and adults not in college. Women are less likely than men to hold loan-averse attitudes, and Hispanic respondents are more likely than White respondents to be loan averse.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/understanding-loan-aversion-in-education-evidence-from-high-school-seniors-community-college-students-and-adults/590658/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/understanding-loan-aversion-in-education-evidence-from-high-school-seniors-community-college-students-and-adults/590658.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Stanley","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-03","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is “loan aversion” in the context of education?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Loan aversion refers to an unwillingness to take a loan to pay for college, even when the loan would likely provide a positive long-term return.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How was loan aversion measured in this study?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"The study uses survey data collected from more than 6,000 individuals and examines the frequency of loan aversion across three distinct populations.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Which groups show the highest and lowest loan-averse attitudes?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Between 20 and 40% of high school seniors exhibit loan aversion, while community college students and adults not currently in college show lower rates, depending on the measure.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590658,1792435220,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":36,"preview_page_count":4},2336477405376,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","AERA Open  \nJanuary-March 2017, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 1–16 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858416683649  \n© The Author(s) 2017. [http://ero.sagepub.com](http://ero.sagepub.com)  \nUnderstanding Loan Aversion in Education: Evidence from High School Seniors, Community College Students, and Adults  \nAngela Boatman  \nBrent J. Evans  \nAdela Soliz  \nVanderbilt University  \nAlthough prior research has suggested that some students may be averse to taking out loans to finance their college education, there is little empirical evidence showing the extent to which loan aversion exists or how it affects different populations of students. This study provides the first large-scale quantitative evidence of levels of loan aversion in the United States. Using survey data collected on more than 6,000 individuals, we examine the frequency of loan aversion in three distinct populations. Depending on the measure, between 20 and 40% of high school seniors exhibit loan aversion with lower rates among community college students and adults not in college. Women are less likely to express loan-averse attitudes than men, and Hispanic respondents are more likely to be loan averse than White respondents.  \nKeywords: student loans, higher education, loan aversion, financial aid  \nAs the college-going population becomes increasingly diverse and the cost of college continues to rise, it is critical that we better understand the underlying mechanisms by which prospective students make decisions about whether and how to finance their education beyond high school. Student loans are an increasingly necessary tool to help students pay for postsecondary education. Though 35% of all undergraduate students and 55% of all graduate students receive some type of federal loan to help finance their postsecondary education (Snyder & Dillow, 2015), there appears to be a subset of students who are averse to taking out loans and, thus, will choose not to borrow money to finance their college education (Callendar & Jackson, 2005; Cunningham & Santiago, 2008) . Loan aversion, as it applies to postsecondary education, is generally defined as “an unwillingness to take a loan to pay for college, even when that loan would likely offer a positive long-term return” (Cunningham & Santiago, 2008, p. 10) . Loan-averse students are those interested in investing in higher education but not willing to takeout loans to do so (Palameta & Voyer, 2010) . Although a handful of studies have provided initial evidence that loan aversion may affect students’ decisions about investing in college, this study further tests the hypothesis that loan aversion exists and is widespread in the United States among current and prospective college students.  \nEvidence of the existence of loan aversion has been found among students in various contexts (Burdman, 2005; Caetano, Palacios, & Patrinos, 2011; Callendar & Jackson, 2005; Cunningham & Santiago, 2008; Goldrick-Rab &  \nKelchen, 2013; Palameta & Voyer, 2010), but much of the empirical work has been done outside the United States. Goldrick-Rab and Kelchen (2013) sampled students from Wisconsin to estimate the extent of loan aversion, but because their sample has already enrolled in college, their findings may not be generalizable to individuals who are not currently enrolled in higher education. The present study overcomes this limitation by obtaining samples from three different populations: high school seniors, community college students, and adults who are not currently enrolled in higher education. We include high school students as we are interested in how attitudes about borrowing money for college might shape the decision to borrow and enroll in higher education. Community college students have already made a decision about borrowing money for college and, as a result, may have attitudes about borrowing that differ from those of high school students. In addition, community college students constitute an important population of students in higher education as almost 5","cbCaioCZVlgeXob1","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioCZVlgeXob1","pdf",375241,16,"English","# Introduction\n## Definition and prior evidence of loan aversion\n# Study design and populations\n## High school seniors\n## Community college students\n## Adults not currently enrolled\n# Findings and demographic differences\n## Gender and race/ethnicity differences\n## Potential consequences for enrollment and persistence","[{\"question\":\"What is “loan aversion” in the context of education?\",\"answer\":\"Loan aversion refers to an unwillingness to take a loan to pay for college, even when the loan would likely provide a positive long-term return.\"},{\"question\":\"How was loan aversion measured in this study?\",\"answer\":\"The study uses survey data collected from more than 6,000 individuals and examines the frequency of loan aversion across three distinct populations.\"},{\"question\":\"Which groups show the highest and lowest loan-averse attitudes?\",\"answer\":\"Between 20 and 40% of high school seniors exhibit loan aversion, while community college students and adults not currently in college show lower rates, depending on the measure.\"}]","Understanding Loan Aversion in Education - Evidence from High School Seniors, Community College Students, and Adults | PDF",1792070145]