This paper by economist Eduard Nilaj along with Laura Beamer, Sultana Fouzia, Sérgio Pinto, Jack Landry, Mike Pierce and Marshall Steinbaum estimates the economic impact of student debt cancellation on borrower financial outcomes using a nationally-representative credit panel and a staggered difference-in-differences event study framework, comparing cohorts of borrowers whose student loans were cancelled in 2021-2024 to a control group consisting of borrowers with active student loans.
They estimate a 1.5 percentage point increase in homeownership, a 19-point increase in credit score, a $756 increase in auto debt, and a 1.9 percentage point reduction in credit utilization, among other outcomes. The findings shed light on the effect of student debt holding constant educational attainment, variation in which confounds most estimates.
Read the Report: Student Debt Cancellation: Evidence from Credit Reporting Panel Data