Code for: Parental Support, Savings, and Student Loan Repayment

Using unique survey and administrative data from Canada, we document that parentalsupport and personal savings substantially reduce student loan repayment problems. Developing a model of student borrowing and repayment, we show that non-monetary costs of applying for income-based repayment assistance are critical to understanding our findings.Furthermore, we show that eliminating these costs may be inefficient. Empirically, we show that expanding Canada's Repayment Assistance Plan to automatically cover all borrowers could reduce program revenue by half over early repayment years. Finally, we show how student loan programs can be more efficiently designed.

本研究依托加拿大独有调研数据与行政记录，证实父母资助与个人储蓄可显著缓解学生贷款偿还困境。通过构建学生借贷与偿还模型，本研究揭示：申请基于收入的还款救助所产生的非货币成本，是理解本研究结论的核心关键。此外，本研究还证实，取消此类非货币成本或会造成效率损失。实证层面，本研究表明，若将加拿大还款救助计划（Repayment Assistance Plan）扩展至自动覆盖所有借款者，将导致该计划在还款初期的收入减少一半。最后，本研究阐释了学生贷款项目的更高效设计路径。