Homeownership and Student Loans: Analyzing Demographic Variation

Abstract

As student loan debt in the United States increases, its influence on various decisions, particularly homeownership, has become a growing concern. While previous research has started to examine the link between homeownership and student loans in different contexts, little is known about how this relationship empirically varies across demographics. This thesis addresses two questions: (1) How does the relation between student loan debt and homeownership likelihood differ by race, marital status, and the combination of marriage and parenthood? (2) More broadly, how does having student loan debt or a high student loan balance connect to homeownership likelihood? Using the 2023 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), focusing on American adults aged 22 to 65, I apply binary logistic regressions to answer these questions. I find a statistically significantly negative correlation between having student loan debt and homeownership likelihood. However, I do not find a correlation between a high student loan balance and homeownership likelihood, nor do I observe significant differences across racial, marital, or parental status groups. Although the research has limitations, this paper provides implications for future researchers, policymakers, and the many American adults handling student loan debt.