Undergraduate Borrowing at the Federal Limit Before and After the 1992 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act

Using data from the 1992-93 and 1995-96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, this article explores changes in the characteristics of undergraduates who borrowed at the federal limit before and after the 1992 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses are used to address the research questions. The analyses suggest that the 1992 amendments to the Higher Education Act were associated with an increased tendency to borrow at the federal limit, particularly among dependent undergraduates from middle-income families.