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Booij, A., Leuven, E. and Oosterbeek, H. (2012). The role of information in the take-up of student loans Economics of Education Review, 31(1):33--44.

  • Journal
    Economics of Education Review
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We study student loan behavior in the Netherlands where (i) higher education students know little about the conditions of the government's financial aid program and (ii) take-up rates are low. In a field experiment we manipulated the amount of information students have about these conditions. The treatment has no impact on loan take-up, which is not due to students already having decided to take a loan or students not absorbing the information. We conclude that a lack of knowledge about specific policy parameters does not necessarily imply a binding information constraint.