Research on Educational Debt and Institutional Finances

Educational debt has been a significant topic of research in theological education since 2005. Below are several resources and research reports to help inform work in this area.

Educational debt and institutional finances

• How much does theological education cost?—expenditure per FTE student, 1996-2018
• How much do today's graduates owe?—seven data slides are updated each year with current data
• What's the impact on alums?—a survey of graduates from 2011 and 2015 to determine their experiences with educational debt, strategies schools are using to address financial literacy and student debt, and the impact of debt on financial decision making—available in Powerpoint or video

How schools are responding

• What practices are effective?—an analysis presented at the 2018 Biennial Meeting of data reported by ECFFM participating schools

• What have we learned from the Initiative?—"What Theological Schools are Teaching Us about Faith, Finances, and Leadership", 2017

Practical resources you can use at your school

• Resources to Teach Financial Literacy and Leadership
• Resources to Address the Cost of Theological Educatiion

Additional research by the Auburn Center for the Study of Theological Education

• Taming the Tempest: A team approach to reducing and managing student debt (2014)
• A Call to Action: Lifting the Burden, How Theological Schools Can Help Students Manage Educational Debt (2014)
• Through Toil and Tribulation: Financing Theological Education, 2001-2011 (2014)
• Great Expectations, Fundraising Prospects for Theological Schools (2009)
• The Gathering Storm: The Educational Debt of Theological School Students (2005)

Find out more

• Resources to Teach Financial Literacy and Leadership
• Resources to Address the Cost of Theological Education
• More about the ECFFM Initiative

Return to ECFFM homepage