Descriptive Overview of the Article
The author studies the release of new statistics on student debt and repayment in October 2017 by the U.S. Department of Education. This research takes a more significant look at student dues and evasion. Considering all university students relatively than only borrowers offers far more excellent follow-up. It allows for a more extensive study of long-term trends and variability among subgroups. The author claims that earlier data was confined to debtors only, followed learners for just a short time (3-5 years), began refund and provided only restricted data on learner experiences and traits (Scott-Clayton, 2018). She argues that the new data provide the most thorough study of learner loan dues and evasion to date, aimed at two groups of first-time applicants. Using new data, the author researched how debt and fallback develop with time by entering groups, the special issue of black graduates, and the community beyond the for-profits.
Analysis of the Article
The executive summary of the essay makes it evident that this is not a straightforward problem. The findings show the need to monitor learners from the start of their college careers for several years after graduation and the importance of segmenting patterns by the learner and institutional variables. The findings imply that widespread anxiety about growing average debt levels is unfounded. However, the results encourage further efforts to control the for-profit sector, enhance progression completion, support income-liable credit refund choices for all learners, and better report the unique obstacles tackled by university pupils of color.
The writer’s statistics set had its own set of constraints. For instance, the BPS only considers first-year university students, while elder, returning students may borrow and have poorer results. Graduate students are also accounting for a significant portion of learner debt. Furthermore, the cohort studied here, from 2004, precedes the recession’s dramatic surge in for-profit enrolment. The author could have associated the administrative debt and repayment data utilized in the investigation with the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS) to extend her research to a larger and more recent cohort of students.
Overall, this piece is essential, and any reader can see where it is going. As a result, more individuals will be interested in reading the entire article. It’s a well-written piece with a vital message for government and society. The work is pertinent and convincing, but it never defines why the author is investigating this challenging subject. The article contains a significant amount of information and several graphic pictures.
Nonetheless, the author could have focused on the reliability of the peer-reviewed publications she used in the analysis and their secondary impacts to evaluate thoroughly. The writer could have also considered the recommendations in those articles to locate additional sources that could have helped her study a larger group. Another issue is that the author mainly concentrated on the United States Department of Education report. She could have reviewed some other countries to compare the global trends, making the article more credible.
Lingering Questions about the Article
This article also resolves some other contentious problems. For example, throughout this text, the author makes various assumptions. She expects, for example, that cumulative defaults for the 2004 cohort will grow at almost the same rate as the previous cohort. A question might arise on why she keeps on assuming rather than arguing with facts. The significant prevalence of failures in the for-profit category poses how different the general patterns would be if management excluded for-profits. Another issue is that the results of black B.A. students are not primarily due to lower family income or education. Black graduates have a much greater evasion rate than first-time, low-wage graduates. High levels of default among black college graduates are also linked to lesser labor supply results and for-profit enrolment at the graduate stage. Why are only black students suffering from impoverished labor supply and profits? The author could have come out with a way of explaining some of her posts. It is also worth noting that the globe has evolved dramatically, so implementing such practices today will not always yield the same outcomes.
Connecting the Article to the Audience
The author failed to connect with the audience she had in mind for her research. The author could have elicited an emotional response to create a deeper bond. She should speak directly to the audience and answer their specific needs in her writing. Although the writer did not invite readers to make comments, she did leave the reader with some unanswered issues. In the beginning, the article had to study the default crisis on student loans, but towards the end, the author biased the study toward students of color. The writer also failed to define new terms, which disadvantaged the reader. This definition may have given the reader a more transparent measure of the comprehensive study of each variable. It could also assist them in gaining an understanding of the study’s direction and the author’s objectives. The writer did not adequately express the reading’s foundation and aims. Even though the nonexistence of exploration may be reflected as an explanation, further details supporting this investigation could have been helpful.
Reference
Scott-Clayton, J. (2018). The looming student loan default crisis is worse than we thought. Web.