Having student loans is associated with worse health outcomes and practices, according to a new study published in the Journal of American College Health.
Dr. Arielle Kuperberg
“Student loans, physical and mental health, and health care use and delay in college” examined data collected from surveys in 2017 of 3,248 undergraduates at two public U.S. universities, looking to see whether there was a relationship between student loan presence and the health of students.
"I wanted to see, if you hold all else equal, if there is a difference in health and mental health between students with and without student loans, and if there's difference in the degree to which they're using health care, mental health care, dental care, and prescription medicine," said Dr. Arielle Kuperberg, co-author of the study and an associate professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
The research found that college students with loans had significantly worse self-reported physical and mental health and more major medical issues. These students also received regular dental care and were more likely to reduce medication use or delay mental, physical, or dental health care to save money.
Essentially, in almost every arena in which there were differences between those with and those without loans, the former was worse off, the report authors wrote.
"It comes as no shock that people with student debt often face worse health outcomes than people without debt,” said Amy Czulada, outreach & advocacy manager at the Student Borrower Protection Center. “Student debt comes with countless financial stressors that force people to make impossible choices: ‘Do I put food on my table this month, pick up my vital medication, or pay my student loan bill?’”
