Elle Howie
1:42Borrowing for a required professional degree
What you’ll hear
Elle describes borrowing for a required out-of-state master’s degree after entering college with little understanding of long-term repayment consequences.
Lives behind the findings
The stories within the patterns
Fifteen analytic themes were developed across 2,933 interview response units using Guided AI Thematic Analysis (GAITA). Financial Strain is shown first; select any other theme to display its focused story, four participant quotations, connected subthemes, survey findings, and related audio below the grid.
Interactive coding structure
Explore 15 analytic themes
Select any theme to display its public-facing story, four borrower quotations, connected subthemes, related survey outcomes, and available audio below the theme grid.
Showing 15 of 15 analytic themes
How to interpret the counts: Excerpt totals describe coding density within the interview corpus, and borrower reach shows how many of the 67 participants had the theme present. Neither measure estimates prevalence in the broader borrower population.
Selected public-facing story · Analytic theme 12 of 15
Borrowing knowledge and choice
Borrowers often entered debt young, with limited counseling and little family experience to draw on, while college was presented as the expected or only viable route forward.
205coded excerpts63/67borrowers
Borrower voices
Four perspectives from the interviews
“Borrowing was my only option to go to college. I wish I had gotten more information in high school. I blindly accepted the loan options I got.”
“I was really young and went through the entire process by myself. I filled out this random FAFSA. I knew I would have to pay it back, but I didn’t understand the ramifications.”
“My parents supported me going to college, but they couldn’t help me navigate the loans. I didn’t realize I should pay the interest in school; capitalization added about $20,000.”
“I started college during the 2009 recession and felt like I had to go because there weren’t jobs available. It’s hard to know at 20 what you want to do for the rest of your life.”
Participant names are pseudonyms. Quotations are lightly edited to remove verbal fillers, false starts, and repetition, and may be shortened for clarity without changing meaning.
Most frequent connected subthemes
- Youth/age at borrowing44
- Opaque FAFSA and counseling41
- First-generation navigation34
- College as default pathway11
Continue exploring
These are conceptual connections across the study, not respondent-level statistical linkages.
Hear their stories
Three voices connected to Borrowing knowledge and choice
These privacy-reviewed selections connect to the complete Borrower Voices Library. A recording may connect to more than one analytic theme.
Charles Silver
1:46Borrowing with limited guidance
What you’ll hear
Charles reflects on entering college and borrowing with limited guidance while linking education, PSLF expectations, household pressure, and career decisions.
Ali Wala
1:40Graduate skills without a necessary credential
What you’ll hear
Ali values the professional skills gained in graduate school but questions the debt because she believes she could have entered the field without the degree.