Analysis of Student Debt Among-First-Generation College Students

Overview

This project investigates the disparities in student debt among first-generation college students. It uses statistical analysis to explore how factors such as college locale, median income, and enrollment size impact student debt across different percentiles of first-generation student populations. The analysis is performed using R, with various graphs and statistical methods to support conclusions.

Key Questions

• How is student debt distributed among first-generation student percentiles?
• What is the correlation between first-generation student percentage and student debt?
• How do median income, enrollment size, and locale affect student debt?

Hypothesis

Significant disparities exist in student debt levels among first-generation students, influenced by multiple factors identifiable through statistical analysis.

Methodology

The dataset consists of variables like FirstGen, Debt, MedIncome, NetIncome, Enrollment, Locale, and State. The analysis involves data cleaning, descriptive statistics, and graphical representation using R.

Results

• Debt Variation: Debt increases with higher first-generation student percentages.
• Income Influence: Higher median income correlates with lower debt levels.
• Enrollment: Larger colleges tend to have higher student debt.
• State-Level Analysis: Significant variation in debt and first-generation student percentage across states.

Files

• Analysis Scripts.Rmd: Contains the R code used for the analysis.
• Analysis Report.pdf: Detailed report of the findings.

Conclusion

This project highlights the financial challenges faced by first-generation college students and provides data-driven insights that could inform policies to reduce student debt disparities.

References

• Data sourced from Lock5stat.com datasets.