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Source: Penn State University Press
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Pearson, Katherine
Those Who Pay and Those Who Don't: Family Aid, Student Loan Debt, and Consequences for the Transition to Adulthood
Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, 2015.
Also: https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/24856
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Keyword(s): Debt/Borrowing; Family Resources; Home Ownership; Parental Investments; Residence, Return to Parental Home/Delayed Homeleaving; Student Loans / Student Aid; Transition, Adulthood

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In recent decades, student loan debt has become a harsh reality for the majority of American students. Surprisingly, there is a substantial lack of research into both the factors that shape student loan debt accumulation and the consequences of that debt throughout the life course. This dissertation provides insight into these questions by presenting three related chapters on student loan debt, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY-97). Results from the first study indicate that financial contributions from family for educational expenses have the power to shape student loan usage. The effect of family aid is complex, and the direction and strength of the effect vary depending on several factors. In general, family gifts can serve to reduce the likelihood that students will take out student loans, provided that the family gifts received are large enough. The second study explores this relationship further, finding that the extent to which family gifts are able to prevent student loan usage varies depending on socioeconomic status, with wealthier students receiving greater benefits from family gifts. Family gifts do not explain much of the effect of parental socioeconomic status on the likelihood of taking out student loans, however, indicating that parental resources work in both direct and indirect ways to shape student loan debt. The third study turns to an examination of the consequences of student loan debt for young adults, finding that high levels of student loan debt increase the likelihood that young adults will live with roommates at age 25 rather than living independently; increase the likelihood that young adults will return to live with parents after initially moving out; and decrease the likelihood of early homeownership. Overall, these results underscore the potential for student loan debt to negatively affect students as they transition to adulthood and emphasize the importance of socioeconomic status and direct family aid as determinants of those who carry the cost of their college education beyond graduation and into adulthood, and those who do not.
Bibliography Citation
Pearson, Katherine. Those Who Pay and Those Who Don't: Family Aid, Student Loan Debt, and Consequences for the Transition to Adulthood. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, 2015..
2. Sanchez, Luis A.
Establishing Immigrant Legacies: A Study of Immigrant Homeownership in the United States
Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, 2013.
Also: https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/19659
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Keyword(s): Home Ownership; Immigrants; Mobility, Social

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This dissertation focuses on the intersection of homeownership and immigrant assimilation. Homeownership is emphasized because of its importance in establishing positive legacies crucial to social mobility of subsequent generations. The dissertation addresses three questions related to immigrant homeownership. First, how are immigrants and subsequent generations faring in the transition to first-time homeownership? Second, how does immigrant homeowner attainment differ in non-traditional settlement areas commonly described as “new destinations?” Lastly, how does immigrant homeownership influence immigrant children’s educational attainment? The dissertation consists of three substantive studies. The first is a longitudinal analysis of the transition to first-time homeownership among a cohort of youths followed from 1979 to 2009 using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY, 1979). In particular, it examines ethno-generational group differences in first-time homeownership over an observation period that spans thirty years while testing theories of straight-line and segmented assimilation.
Bibliography Citation
Sanchez, Luis A. Establishing Immigrant Legacies: A Study of Immigrant Homeownership in the United States. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, 2013..