Special education teachers are the most likely of all subject-area teachers to have borrowed (65.2%) and to owe their entire balance (15.4%)¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2028: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Special education teachers show the highest borrowing rate and highest share owing their full balance among teachers by field of main teaching assignment. → García 2023
Evidence¶
García 2023¶
García, E., Wei, W., Patrick, S. K., Leung-Gagné, M., & DiNapoli, M. A., Jr. (2023). In debt: Student loan burdens among teachers. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/497.986
q3 · i? · associational · r2
NTPS 2020–21 analysis by field of main teaching assignment (Table A2, Figure 4) reports "the most likely to have ever taken out student loans (65.2%)" for special education teachers, with 44.4% owing some or all and 15.4% owing their entire balance.
"Compared to teachers in other subject areas, teachers working on behalf of students with disabilities are the most likely to have ever taken out student loans (65.2%)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Black teachers have the highest borrowing and repayment rates of all subgroups studied, with 31.4% still owing their entire balance — nearly 3 times the share of all teachers — related
- Black teachers were more likely than other teachers to have borrowed for their education and to report high stress from student loan debt — related
- Beginning teachers borrow at much higher rates than experienced teachers, with about 65% of teachers in their first 10 years having ever borrowed versus 41.4% of those with more than 30 years — related
- Mathematics/science, special education, and foreign language teachers have predicted turnover rates 37%, 46%, and 87% greater than elementary teachers — related
- More experienced teachers earned additional certificates in shortage areas (47 percent) than in nonshortage areas (25 percent), with special education the most common shortage area (27 percent) — related
- Over a third (36.7%) of borrowing teachers have worked multiple jobs because of student loans, and the share rises with monthly repayment amounts — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
special-education-teachers-highest-loan-burdens |
title |
Special education teachers are the most likely of all subject-area teachers to have borrowed (65.2%) and to owe their entire balance (15.4%) |
description |
Special education teachers are the most likely of all subject-area teachers to have borrowed (65.2%) and to owe their entire balance (15.4%) |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2023 |
recheck_by |
2028 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-10 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — garcía-2023 |
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