Min Zhan and Michael Sherraden
Building on an emerging area of research, this study uses a longitudinal data set to examine household assets (financial and nonfinancial) and liabilities (secured and unsecured) and their association with later attainment of a bachelor’s degree. The authors also investigate relationships of assets and liabilities with educational expectations of both parents and children. Findings indicate that, controlling for many other variables, greater parental assets, both financial and nonfinancial, are associated with a later increase in the probability of a child completing college. In contrast, unsecured debt is negatively related to children’s college completion. These results signal a need for much more research on this topic than has occurred to date. Policy implications are also noted.
View the research brief here.
View the full paper here.
