Authors

Zachary W. Taylor, The University of Southern MississippiFollow
Elizabeth A. Rainey, Loyola University New OrleansFollow
Chelseaia Charran, Université du Québec à Trois-RivièresFollow
Gretchen Holthaus, University of Nebraska at LincolnFollow
Linda Eguiluz, Boise State UniversityFollow
Ada Horne, Harvard UniversityFollow
Myra Francisco, United States Government Accountability OfficeFollow
Karla Weber-Wandel, University of Wisconsin-MadisonFollow

Talk Debt to Me: An Applied Linguistics Approach to Exploring College Student Preferences for Student Loan Debt Letters

Short Title

Talk Debt to Me

Abstract

Although student loan debt has been rigorously studied over the past several decades, scant research has investigated how institutions of higher education communicate debt to current and former student borrowers. As COVID-19 forced the United States Department of Education to cancel the Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement as part of a student’s signing of the master promissory note (MPN), there are no other mechanisms for students to be aware of their student loan debt beyond a debt letter from their institution or reviewing their National Student Loan Debt System (NSLDS) portal. This applied linguistics study surveyed 2,030 current student loan borrowers attending U.S. institutions of higher education to explore their preferences for receiving a student loan debt letter. Results suggest students of Color and first-generation in college students strongly prefer shorter, simpler letters, while there were no statistically significant preferences by gender. Implications for research and practice will be addressed.

Recommended Citation

Taylor, Zachary W.; Rainey, Elizabeth A.; Charran, Chelseaia; Holthaus, Gretchen; Eguiluz, Linda; Horne, Ada; Francisco, Myra; and Weber-Wandel, Karla (2023) "Talk Debt to Me: An Applied Linguistics Approach to Exploring College Student Preferences for Student Loan Debt Letters," Journal of Student Financial Aid: Vol. 52 : Iss. 1 , Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55504/0884-9153.1759
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfa/vol52/iss1/4