Teachers With Student Debt: The Struggle, The Causes And What Comes Next

"I am overloaded and struggling. It's terrifying."

"I feel like I'll be making the last payment from my grave."

"It is an albatross around my neck. Years of paying and I feel like I'm getting nowhere."

"Help!"

Those were some of the comments we received from more than 2,000 respondents to NPR Ed's first Teacher Student Debt survey.

Teachers are paid significantly less than many other highly educated professionals. We decided to take a look at student debt among teachers specifically, because we see it as a crossroads of several big trends: chronic concerns over teacher pay amid calls to improve teacher quality; the rising cost of higher ed; the increasing reliance on loans to pay for it; and changing policies from the Trump administration.

While not a scientific sample, the survey respondents gave vivid accounts of their experiences with student loans that match up in many cases with national data. We've used their quotes in italics to illustrate several key factors behind this issue:

Factor No. 1: The pressure to earn more degrees

Public school teachers traditionally have had undergraduate degrees in education. But over the past decade, K-12 teachers have had a growing economic incentive to earn master's degrees. In some cases, they're actually required to do