From the NY Times:
Ninety-four percent of students who earn a bachelor’s degree borrow to pay for higher education — up from 45 percent in 1993, according to an analysis by The New York Times of the latest data from the Department of Education. This includes loans from the federal government, private lenders and relatives.
From The Chronicle:
Nearly 53 percent of full-time undergraduate students borrowed money to attend college in 2007-8, compared with 49.5 percent in 2003-4, according to the Education Sector’s analysis of data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.
From FinAid.org:
Few students can afford to pay for college without some form of education financing. Two-thirds (65.6%) of 4-year undergraduate students graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and some debt in 2007-08, and the average student loan debt among graduating seniors was $23,186 (excluding PLUS Loans but including Stafford, Perkins, state, college and private loans).
Assume all of these depictions of the current state of student loan debt are true. Why is the NY Times estimate so high? Why is the Chronicle estimate so low? Look at issues associated with “O” (How was the variable Operationalized/Defined?) to provide some answers.
What information would you like from the NY Times to evaluate its high figure? Consider issues of “E” (What is the story of Edges & Subpopulations?) in thinking about the meaning of the figure.
