Call for Papers - Special Issue - Beyond the Balance: Narratives from the Frontlines of Student Loan Debt
Guest Editor: Daniel A. Collier, Assistant Professor of Higher and Adult Education at the University of Memphis
Guest Co-Editors: Chris Marsicano, Associate Professor of Educational Studies at Davidson College
Alex Marsicovetere, Assistant Director of the College Crisis Initiative (C2i) at Davidson College
Special Issue Title: Beyond the Balance: Narratives from the Frontlines of Student Loan Debt
Description: Despite the growing national conversation around student loan debt, there is a notable lack of qualitative research exploring its personal and emotional impacts on borrowers. Most studies focus on quantitative data, such as default rates, repayment trends, and economic effects, overlooking the nuanced experiences and perspectives of individuals grappling with debt. The lived realities of borrowers—how they manage the stress of repayment, navigate complex forgiveness programs, or make life decisions around their debt—remain underexplored. This gap in the literature presents an urgent need for qualitative studies that can provide deeper insights into the psychological, social, and financial burdens of student debt. We call for proposals that prioritize borrower narratives to better inform policy changes and humanize the debt crisis.
Number of Inclusions: We are seeking up to eight (8) high-quality qualitative articles for inclusion in the special issue. We welcome submissions that utilize mixed or multiple methods, but the qualitative component must be equally emphasized or more prominent. Our goal is to strengthen the representation of qualitative research in the literature.
Timeline: Calls for proposal will occur in October 2024 and will be open until January 31st, 2025. Proposals will be up to 700 words and should include: introduction, short lit review/study purpose, methods, and if applicable initial findings.
Proposal decisions are expected to occur in March 2025. For accepted proposals, full papers will be due August 2025 and will be subjected to peer-review. We expect peer-review to last no longer than 60 days (October 2025) and will provide authors another 30 days (November – December 2025) to make revisions. Once all final revisions are completed the special issue will go to press.
*Timeline is subject to modification as needed
About the Journal: Higher Education Politics and Economics is an academic, interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal on higher education featuring research from a range of perspectives, including education finance, political science, social science, policy, and law to critically examine dynamics in the nexus of social, political, and economic forces shaping major changes in higher education in the US and around the world (Print ISSN 2577-7270 & Online ISSN 2577-7289).
Higher Education Politics & Economics (HEPE) publishes research centering issues of politics and economics in higher education including both four-year and two-year institutions, as well as domestic and international institutions. The journal accepts a variety of manuscripts including empirical research papers, review articles, opinion pieces, and graduate student research in-progress. The journal’s audiences include academics, institutional leaders, policymakers and the public.
Author Guidelines: Proposal guidelines are listed above already, and a cover letter is not required for submission. For the manuscript proper – the paper can be up to 20,000 words which includes references, notes, tables, and figures. All papers must us APA formatting. For more information on manuscript formatting please view the journal’s website page here - https://ojed.org/hepe/about/submissions.
Who Should Submit Proposals: We are now accepting proposals for submissions. We do not limit proposals to faculty; graduate students and non-faculty researchers are encouraged to participate as well. Furthermore, we invite researchers from outside of higher education, as we are open to contributions from any field of study or framework. Our primary goal is to gather high-quality submissions that will advance the conversation around student loan debt.
Make a new submission to the Special Issue - Beyond the Balance: Narratives from the Frontlines of Student Loan Debt section.
