Student debt and wellbeing: a research agenda

Abstract

With levels of student debt unprecedented and rising in many democracies, growing attention has been given by academics and practitioners to its possible effects for student wellbeing. This article makes three contributions to this debate. First, it offers a critical review of literature that considers the relationship of student debt and wellbeing to open up discussion about the dimensions, limitations and possibilities of the field. Second, the paper points to potential avenues for future research about student debt and wellbeing by considering indicative comments made by New Zealand university students as part of a series of indepth interviews. Third, the article makes a practical contribution to current debates about the tuition 'fees free' policy in New Zealand. We argue that developing a more robust understanding of how student debt affects wellbeing may help to broaden and reinvigorate academic and public debate about student debt.

Relationship Between Debt and Depression, Anxiety, Stress, or Suicide Ideation in Asia: A Systematic Review

“…UK students not being able to pay bills predicted higher anxiety as explained by financial stress (Richardson et al, 2016 ). Through interviews, Nissen et al, 2019 reported that students with high debt expressed anxiety about their loans, and despite flourishing at the university, they are terrified about their future with regard to their debt, describing the debt as something that would negatively impact their salaries, house ownership, or ability to repay the debt.…”

Subjective Financial Well-Being During Emerging Adulthood: The Role of Student Debt

“…There is limited research on the relationship between student debt and SFWB. In a review of related literature, Nissen, Hayward, and McManus (2019) found that most studies identified deleterious effects of student debt on economic, physical, and mental well-being. Walsemann, Gee, and Gentile (2015) found that student loans were significantly associated with poorer psychological functioning among college students.…”

Health and Wellbeing in Higher Education: A Comparison of Music and Sport Students Through the Framework of Self Determination Theory

“…Tertiary education encompasses two major transitional stages in life; firstly, moving from school toward self-directed learning and from 'home' toward independent living, followed by preparation for professional life, often through developing interpersonal competencies and adult life skills (Malebo et al, 2007;Hewitt, 2019). These changes are thought to impact directly and indirectly on the economic, social, physical and psychological aspects of health and wellbeing of students (Nissen et al, 2019). In general, studies of students in higher education (henceforth: HE) have reported higher levels of mental health problems relative to the general population (Neves and Hillman, 2019).…”

“…Historically the term mental health has been associated with a psychiatric/medical model (with a negative value-laden inference) whereby treatment is administered to improve mental illnesses with clinically significant symptoms, such as depression (Wren-Lewis and Alexandrova, in press). Current data relating to student mental health, and associated stigma, suggests the use of this term remains relevant as it is indubitably tied to measures focused on physical and mental health problems linked to psychological distress (Storrie et al, 2010;Spahn et al, 2017;Hughes et al, 2018;Nissen et al, 2019).…”