Table 1.
Descriptive statistics by race, NLSY-97
| Mean or proportion
|
t test | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full sample | White (N = 3258) | Black (N = 1244) | ||
| Student loan debt | ||||
| R has debt (1 = yes) | .41 | |||
| Mean debt among debtors | 22,050.70 | |||
| Median debt among debtors | 15,806.20 | |||
| Debt (natural log) | 3.93 | 3.86 | 4.19 | * |
| Parents’ wealth | ||||
| Mean net worth | 149,842.0 | 174,871.0 | 48,494.0 | *** |
| Median net worth | 73,333.3 | 101,376.0 | 9497.4 | *** |
| Mean assets by type | ||||
| Financial assets | 25,818.7 | 3100.8 | 6362.6 | *** |
| Home equity | 62,415.9 | 72,866.2 | 19,376.9 | *** |
| Retirement accounts | 41,386.5 | 48,211.2 | 13,279.7 | *** |
| College savings account (CSA) | 3899.60 | 4561.52 | 1492.66 | *** |
| Has CSA (1 = yes) | .10 | .11 | .06 | *** |
| CSA amount among holders | 38,775.7 | 40,785.9 | 27,067.7 | * |
| Other assets | 8384.7 | 11,231.2 | 4091.5 | *** |
| Sociodemographic background | ||||
| Parents’ income | 66,939.0 | 84,119.5 | 43,789.9 | *** |
| Parents’ highest education | ||||
| ≤High school degree | .31 | .26 | .48 | *** |
| Some college | .30 | .31 | .32 | |
| Four-year college or more | .39 | .43 | .21 | *** |
| Family structure of origin | ||||
| Two parent biological | .61 | .66 | .34 | *** |
| Step family | .12 | .12 | .14 | |
| Single parent family | .23 | .19 | .43 | *** |
| Other family structure | .04 | .02 | .09 | *** |
| Number of children in HH, 1997 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 3.7 | *** |
| Age @ survey | 25.0 | 25.0 | 25.0 | |
| Year @ survey | 2007.1 | 2007.1 | 2007.1 | |
| Sex (Female = 1; Male = 0) | .53 | .53 | .58 | ** |
| Urban locale in 1997 (1 = yes) | .71 | .67 | .91 | *** |
| Postsecondary characteristics | ||||
| Institution attended/degree attained | ||||
| Two-year Institution, no degree | .26 | .23 | .34 | *** |
| Two-year Institution, degree | .10 | .10 | .10 | |
| Four-year Institution, no degree | .24 | .23 | .32 | *** |
| Four-year Institution, degree | .40 | .44 | .24 | *** |
| Years enrolled in college | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.3 | *** |
| Prop years enrolled full-time | .76 | .78 | .72 | *** |
| Prop years enrolled in private school | .18 | .19 | .15 | *** |
| Attended for-profit (1 = yes) | .12 | .10 | .23 | *** |
| Attended HBCU (1 = yes) | .03 | .00 | .21 | *** |
| Institutional generosity (aid/cost) | .74 | .69 | .82 | *** |
| Total parent contribution over career | 10,384.0 | 11,679.0 | 4216.7 | *** |
| Young adult characteristics | ||||
| Risk propensity | 5.09 | 5.09 | 5.08 | |
| Financial lit Q’s correct (1 = yes) | .55 | .58 | .41 | *** |
| Age 25 wages | 24,654.40 | 26,392.70 | 21,048.44 | *** |
| Age 25 net worth | 32,149.20 | 37,182.20 | 20,185.90 | *** |
***
p < .001;
**
p < .01;
*
p < .05;
+
p < .10