Was it Worth it? Using Student Loans to Finance a College Degree

Authors

William L. Nuckols, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Kim E. Bullington, Old Dominion UniversityFollow
Dennis E. Gregory, Old Dominion UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

DOI

10.32674/hepe.v6i1.1358

Publication Title

Higher Education Politics & Economics

Volume

6

Issue

1

Pages

1-19

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the perceptions of value added to the lives of graduates who borrowed money to fund their college educations. Through the lens of cognitive dissonance theory, five themes emerged. Overall, the study participants agreed that the ability to take on student loans to fund their education was worth it, but on the other hand feel overburdened with the cost of paying back their loans. This paper also provides a foundation for future research and identifies public policy shortcomings and suggests solutions.

Comments

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

ORCID

0000-0001-6239-1746 (Gregory)

Original Publication Citation

Nuckols, W., Bullington, K. E., & Gregory, D. E. (2020). Was it worth it? Using student loans to finance a college degree. Higher Education Politics & Economics, 6(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.32674/hepe.v6i1.1358

Repository Citation

Nuckols, William L.; Bullington, Kim E.; and Gregory, Dennis E., "Was it Worth it? Using Student Loans to Finance a College Degree" (2020). Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications. 67.
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/efl_fac_pubs/67