Student Loan Debt Letters

Legislators have increasingly become concerned about their state’s economic well-being with regard to student loan debt, as state leadership has called for progressive action in reducing loan burdens among students (Ahlman & Gonzalez, 2019). One response to these calls has been to institute student loan debt letters at universities (Reschke, 2017). As a low-cost effort associated with financial education, many schools have opted to mail or email students summary information on their federal student loan debt. Often referred to as “debt letters,” these letters typically include information on total debt accrued, estimated monthly payments, and borrowing eligibility that remains (Darolia, 2016).Today, research suggests substantial differences in the effectiveness of debt letters and the ways in which they are structured. Variance in the content of debt letters is associated with differences in outcomes associated with student loan borrowing, academic performance, and student retention from semester and year. Research pertaining to the effectiveness of debt letters is explored in theliterature review that follows