IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i8p4836-d795151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Student Debt on Career Choices among Doctor of Public Health Graduates in the United States: A Descriptive Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Chulwoo Park

    (Department of Public Health and Recreation, San José State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Eric Coles

    (DrPH Coalition, 93 Longwood Ave., Brookline, MA 02446, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

(1) Background: As gaps in the public health workforce grow in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, graduates of the schools of public health, especially Doctors of Public Health (DrPH), are poised to offer relief. While there are some known recruitment issues, student debt and debt impact on career choices are understudied. (2) Methods: In the present study, we perform a descriptive analysis of the potential impact of student debt on career choices among DrPH students and alumni in the United States using a cross-sectional national online survey. A total of 203 participants (66: alumni and 137: current students) completed the survey. Descriptive statistics, a chi-squared test of independence, and content analysis were used to analyze the funding situation and its impact on career choices. (3) Results: We found that (1) 72% of current DrPH students have zero funding support for their degree, (2) scholarship opportunities for a DrPH degree are limited, especially when compared to PhD programs, and (3) student debt impacts 59% of DrPH students’ and 29% of DrPH graduates’ career choices (about 49% of all respondents). (4) Conclusions: Student debt and a misunderstanding of DrPH are likely impediments to DrPH graduates participating in the public health workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Chulwoo Park & Eric Coles, 2022. "The Impact of Student Debt on Career Choices among Doctor of Public Health Graduates in the United States: A Descriptive Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:8:p:4836-:d:795151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/8/4836/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/8/4836/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Congressional Budget Office, 2017. "Comparing the Compensation of Federal and Private-Sector Employees, 2011 to 2015," Reports 52637, Congressional Budget Office.
    2. Rothstein, Jesse & Rouse, Cecilia Elena, 2011. "Constrained after college: Student loans and early-career occupational choices," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1-2), pages 149-163, February.
    3. Gerald Eric Daniels Jr. & Andria Smythe, 2019. "Student Debt and Labor Market Outcomes," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 171-175, May.
    4. Kahler W. Stone & Kristina W. Kintziger & Meredith A. Jagger & Jennifer A. Horney, 2021. "Public Health Workforce Burnout in the COVID-19 Response in the U.S," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-11, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tony Lee & Benjamin J. Becerra & Monideepa B. Becerra, 2023. "“ Seems Like There Is No Stopping Point at All Whatsoever ”: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Public Health Workforce Perception on COVID-19 Pandemic Management and Future Needs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(14), pages 1-9, July.
    2. Silvia Magri & Valentina Michelangeli & Sabrina Pastorelli & Raffaella Pico, 2019. "The expansion of consumer credit in Italy and in the Euro Area: what are the drivers and the risks?," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 500, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    3. repec:hka:wpaper:2013-20 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Steven A. Boutcher & Jason N. Houle & Anna Raup‐Kounovksy & Carroll Seron, 2023. "A Faustian bargain? Rethinking the role of debt in law students' career choices," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(1), pages 166-195, March.
    5. Britton, Jack & Gruber, Jonathan, 2020. "Do income contingent student loans reduce labor supply?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    6. Marco Di Maggio & Ankit Kalda & Vincent Yao, 2019. "Second Chance: Life without Student Debt," NBER Working Papers 25810, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Rothstein, Jesse & Rouse, Cecilia Elena, 2011. "Constrained after college: Student loans and early-career occupational choices," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(1-2), pages 149-163, February.
    8. Jinhee Kim & Swarn Chatterjee, 2019. "Student Loans, Health, and Life Satisfaction of US Households: Evidence from a Panel Study," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 36-50, March.
    9. Stella Min & Miles G. Taylor, 2018. "Racial and Ethnic Variation in the Relationship Between Student Loan Debt and the Transition to First Birth," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 165-188, February.
    10. Rajeev Darolia, 2013. "Student Loan Repayment and College Accountability," Consumer Finance Institute discussion papers 13-5, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    11. Jones, Todd R. & Kofoed, Michael S., 2020. "Do peers influence occupational preferences? Evidence from randomly-assigned peer groups at West Point," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    12. Heitor, Manuel & Horta, Hugo & Leocádio, Miguel, 2016. "Enlarging the social basis of higher education: Lessons learned from extending a social support system with a risk-sharing loan scheme in Portugal," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 319-327.
    13. Mi Luo & Simon Mongey, 2019. "Assets and Job Choice: Student Debt, Wages and Amenities," NBER Working Papers 25801, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Berrak Bahadir & Dora Gicheva, 2022. "Macroeconomic Implications of Student Debt: A State‐Level Analysis," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 54(8), pages 2273-2300, December.
    15. Helena Skyt Nielsen & Torben Sørensen & Christopher Taber, 2010. "Estimating the Effect of Student Aid on College Enrollment: Evidence from a Government Grant Policy Reform," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 185-215, May.
    16. Marin G. Olson & Karly M. Pyles & Danielle Kristen Nadorff, 2023. "Give until It Hurts: An Exploratory Analysis of Mental Health Workers’ Wellness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(20), pages 1-11, October.
    17. Kaas, Leo & Zink, Stefan, 2011. "Human capital investment with competitive labor search," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 520-534, May.
    18. Bednar, Steven & Gicheva, Dora, 2013. "Tax benefits for graduate education: Incentives for whom?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 181-197.
    19. Manuel S. González Canché, 2017. "Financial Benefits of Rapid Student Loan Repayment: An Analytic Framework Employing Two Decades of Data," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 671(1), pages 154-182, May.
    20. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Cuffe, Harold E, 2020. "Do Struggling Students Benefit From Continued Student Loan Access? Evidence From University and Beyond," Working Paper Series 21067, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    21. Shan Parker & Vicki Johnson-Lawrence, 2022. "Addressing Trauma-Informed Principles in Public Health through Training and Practice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-14, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:8:p:4836-:d:795151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.