Vol. 12 No. 2 (2026): Higher Education Politics & Economics, 12(2)

Special Issue - Beyond the Balance: Narratives from the Frontlines of Student Loan Debt

• Special Issue Introduction: Expanding Qualitative Inquiry on Student Loan Debt

  Daniel Collier, Christopher Mariscano

  2-5

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• Beyond the Numbers: Humanizing the Student Debt Crisis Through Borrower Narratives

  Isabela Thebaldi, Jasmine Ulmer, James Salvo

  6-27

• Pause and Effect: Examining the Dynamics of the Student Loan Pause and the Challenge of Resuming Payments for Public Service Loan Forgiveness Borrowers

  Daniel Collier, Dan Fitzpatrick, Chloe Fann, Frederick Engram, Carol Bruzzano, Tomecca Keyes

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• "The Relationship I Have With Money": Student Debtors’ Economic Strategies and Approaches to Money Management

  Dr. Joan Maya Mazelis

  56-86

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• “Some People Don’t Like Financial Aid, ‘Cause They Don’t Know How It Works, Completely”: Student and Staff Perspectives on Student Debt

  Saralyn McKinnon-Crowley

  87-107

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• “Maybe It’s a Necessary Burden”: Higher Education Practitioners’ Intro- and Extrospective Perspectives on the Student Loan Debt Crisis

  Zachary Taylor, Elizabeth Rainey, Allison Maldonado, Debra Carter, Dana George, Karla Weber-Wandel, Patrick Ziegler

  108-138

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• Borrowing The Future: The Role Of Student Debt In Undergraduate Students’ Postgraduate Life

  Monnica Chan, Sara Niño

  139-159

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• Capitalizing on Time: Place-Based Aid and the Value of Lifting the Financial Burden for Low-Income Students

  Amy Stich, William B. Walker, Jr., Myla Cash-Williams, Daivon Jarrell

  160-188

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• “If I Could Go Back…”: Understanding the Education and Career Decisions of Forgivable Loan Recipients in the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program

  Katie N. Smith

  189-215

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