ABSTRACT
Objective Pharmacy students with substantial educational debt are at risk for excessive workloads, burnout, and clinical errors. During the COVID-19 pandemic, policies addressing economic hardships for all student debt borrowers included temporary suspension of monthly payments and 0% interest during the pause. This study aimed to understand student-level factors regarding student debt from the lived experiences of current pharmacy students and aimed to understand how current pharmacy students view temporary loan relief. Methods We used semi-structured interviews of pharmacy students across four years of progression in their pharmacy program to better understand student experiences with debt, different factors that may influence the impact of student debt on short-term and long-term outcomes for students, and student perspectives on debt relief policies and potential solutions. Our thematic analysis was grounded in existing evidence and a conceptual framework, while also allowing codes to emerge directly from the data. Results A total of 20 pharmacy students were interviewed with a median student debt of $77,000, with debt amounts ranging from $0 to $209,000. Students described what mediating factors influenced their experiences, the influence of student debt on clinician burnout, and other outcomes impacted by student debt. Six overarching themes emerged relevant to current students: student debt influences education and career decisions, debt is risky given the saturated pharmacy market, debt is an accepted burden, debt will inhibit starting a life, the COVID-19 loan relief is revealing, and early financial education is needed. Conclusion Pharmacy students burdened with debt described a variety of different experiences and attitudes towards that debt and provided their perspectives on how student debt influences short-term education and career decisions. While students accept the tradeoff of debt for their education as an inevitable burden, reported coping mechanisms and strategies shared suggest some solutions may be available to ameliorate this burden.
ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we examine the relationship between pandemic tuition increases and student debt, the latter not only an American experience but a growing global concern. In the midst of the fight against COVID, many administrators in the U.S. decided to increase tuition for students and their families, in many instances, several times over, in what we described as akin to other forms of price-gouging of vulnerable people and communities during disasters. Additionally, we argue that the link between tuition increases and student debt is not accidental but an outcome of decades of policy decisions that have led to a systemic failure of government, particularly in the United States, to support the institution of higher education, and education more broadly. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
This paper explores the political debate on student loan forgiveness from a religious (Christian) ethical perspective. In so doing, I answer the three specific questions. First, what are the prospects and limits of different political approaches to the issue? Second, what are the structural or ideological backgrounds that have given birth to the student loan crisis, but are not fully addressed by the president’s executive ordering? Last, what is the Christian ethical response to the issue, and how could it be theologically justified? Answering these questions, I argue that it is time now for American society to reckon with the neoliberal economy of debt that has relentlessly undertaken every aspect of our social and political lives. I also contend that student debt should be regarded as a form of social gift offered by society to the future generation.
ABSTRACT
The methodology uses data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances and original survey data from mortgage lenders investigated the effects of student loan debt on first-time home buyers. The sixth paper from China examined to what extent, if any, is a homeowners association (HOA), which is related to a gated community capitalised into the level of housing prices. Housing market data was drawn from various real estate agencies with the findings confirming the age of the house, existence of central heating and/or parking had no significant effect on prices. The methodology used a double-layer analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach to examine 15 geospatial factors where these factors were categorised into physical, social, economic, legal and environmental, forming the first layer, while its subcategory is the second layer.
ABSTRACT
Today's female physicians face a "triple whammy" of structural discrimination, rigid work expectations, and increasing educational debt. Coronavirus disease 2019 is disproportionately amplifying these forces on women. The burden of these forces on women, the likely long-term consequences, and some preliminary solutions are discussed.