The Promise of Student Loan Debt Letters: A Critical and Linguistic Analysis

28 Pages Posted: 22 May 2020

See all articles by ZW Taylor

ZW Taylor

University of Southern Mississippi

G Holthaus

Wichita State University

Date Written: April 25, 2020

Abstract

As the student loan debt crisis has continued to gain national attention from higher education leaders, education policymakers, and the media, states have begun mandating that institutions send student loan debt letters to any current or former student with outstanding student loan debt. Preliminary studies of the effectiveness of student loan debt letters have been mixed, but these studies have not analyzed how institutions have composed student loan debt letters at the word-, sentence-, and document-level. As a result, this study gathered six student loan debt letters sent by different institutions across the United States and analyzed these letters for readability, cohesion, and lexical diversity. Results suggest student loan debt letters have been written in drastically different ways and do not share common vocabulary, possibly confusing the debt repayment process for students. Implications for research and practice are addressed.

Keywords: student debt letters, financial aid, student loans, higher education

Suggested Citation

Taylor, ZW and Holthaus, G, The Promise of Student Loan Debt Letters: A Critical and Linguistic Analysis (April 25, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3585393 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3585393

ZW Taylor (Contact Author)

University of Southern Mississippi ( email )

Hattiesburg, MS 39406
United States

G Holthaus

Wichita State University ( email )

United States

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