Lives behind the findings
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
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 5 of 15
Debt and repayment timelines reshape adult milestones, making homes, children, marriage, retirement, and long-term savings conditional or delayed.
Borrower voices
“Owning a home was one of my top adulting dreams. I think I would have gotten there much sooner had it not been for student loan debt and repayment.”
“We originally talked about having two children, but now that we have one, we don’t see us affording a second. I will probably revisit that if my student loans get forgiven.”
“We would have loved to have more kids. Financial reasons definitely shaped us having one child.”
“The money we’ve saved is now going toward this buyback—putting away funds for our own kids’ college while still paying off my own loans.”
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.
These are conceptual connections across the study, not respondent-level statistical linkages.
Hear their stories
These privacy-reviewed selections connect to the complete Borrower Voices Library. A recording may connect to more than one analytic theme.
Harriet Tubman
0:28Harriet explains how anticipated payments made another child feel financially unattainable, while eventual forgiveness offered hope that the constraint would not be permanent.
Sola Ray
0:46Sola connects financial strain, medical debt, and carrying most of the household debt to the decision not to have a third child.
Bruce Wayne
0:47Bruce describes how student loans constrained homebuying affordability and reinforced a determination to minimize other debt.