{"id":2560,"date":"2019-05-15T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T13:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=2560"},"modified":"2019-05-13T11:23:04","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T16:23:04","slug":"the-sociologists-behind-warrens-education-and-debt-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2019\/05\/15\/the-sociologists-behind-warrens-education-and-debt-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sociologists Behind Warren\u2019s Education and Debt Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Photo by Senate Democrats, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Warren released an ambitious plan<\/a> for free college and student loan relief on April 22.  Among a Democratic primary field that is increasingly embracing free college as the standard, Warren\u2019s plan stood out for including $50,000 of debt relief for all individuals with current student debt, expanding what we mean by the cost of attendance, creating a fund for HBCUs, and (eventually) banning for-profit colleges from receiving federal funds. The plan also stood out in another way: centering sociological, justice-oriented research. Inequality and education are topics with a lot of good work from sociologists, but it is worth highlighting three sociologists who influenced Warren\u2019s proposal: Louise Seamster<\/a>, Tressie McMillan Cottom<\/a>, and Sara Goldrick-Rab<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Warren notes that student loan debt is a racial equality issue. She specifically cites analysis done by a team at Brandeis University<\/a>, including sociologist Louise Seamster, that finds that households with lower levels of education and families of color benefit more from Warren\u2019s plan. Dr. Seamster\u2019s recent article in Contexts<\/em>, “Black Debt, White Debt<\/a>,” demonstrates how debt often functions differently for black and white families. White Americans can take advantage of forms of debt like home mortgages, student loans, and business loans that later result in increased wealth and can be used to establish creditworthiness for future financial interactions. In contrast, municipals fines and fees or predatory student loans are more likely to be carried by black Americans. These forms of debt have high interest rates, poor terms, and hurt future wealth and creditworthiness more than they help.
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