Administrative Burden in Federal Student Loan Repayment, and Socially Stratified Access to Income-Driven Repayment Plans

This study considers socially stratified take-up of income-driven repayment plans among federal student loan borrowers with high-debt payment obligations. Qualitative analyses of borrower complaints from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are used to document borrowers’ experiences of administrative burden in the federal loan repayment system. The combined effects of burdens on access to payment relief programs are quantified using both administrative data from a national sample of consumer credit reports and restricted-use survey data from the Beginning Postsecondary Longitudinal Study (BPS). Socioeconomic and racial gaps in take-up of income-driven repayment (IDR) plans are estimated among the subset of borrowers who would face high loan payment-to-income ratios under a standard repayment plan. Regression models indicate that among these borrowers, those living in lower-income census blocks are less likely to be enrolled in IDR.