Education loans and asset building among black and Hispanic young adults

Use of education loans as a way to finance college education has grown rapidly, with minority students and their families being particularly burdened with education loan debt. Given the rising education loans and the racial/ethnic disparity in wealth accumulation, it is timely and important to examine how education loans affect the ability of future wealth building among minority households. This study examines the association between education loans and financial asset building among Black and Hispanic young adults aged 30 years by analyzing data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The results from a treatment-effects model indicate that having education loans is negatively related to net worth and nonfinancial assets at age 30, after controlling for respondents' demographic characteristics, years of education, and working hours. The relationship between the amount of education loans and indicators of financial balance sheets, however, is not statistically significant among the Black and Hispanic young adults with outstanding loans.