Student Loan Repayment Experience & Wellbeing Survey

Thanks for taking a few minutes to share your student loan experience. Your responses are completely confidential and anonymized. Your answers help improve support and information for borrowers — this should take about 5 minutes, and there are no wrong answers.

Which best describes your current student loan situation?

• Currently in repayment
• In a deferment or forbearance period
• Loans fully paid off
• Loans forgiven or discharged
• I have loans but haven't entered repayment yet
• I have never had student loans

Roughly what is your total remaining student loan balance?

• $0 (paid off or none)
• Under $10,000
• $10,000–$29,999
• $30,000–$59,999
• $60,000–$99,999
• $100,000 or more
• Prefer not to say

Which repayment plan are you currently on, if any?

• Standard fixed repayment
• Income-driven repayment plan
• Graduated repayment plan
• Refinanced through a private lender
• Not currently in active repayment
• Not sure / don't know

How satisfied are you with your loan servicer (the company that manages your payments)?

How much do you agree with each statement about your loan repayment experience?

How confident are you that you'll be able to pay off your loans on your current plan?

Which of these would help you most with your student loans right now, and which would help least?

• A loan forgiveness program
• A lower interest rate
• Switching to an income-driven repayment plan
• Employer student loan repayment assistance
• One-on-one financial counseling
• A temporary payment pause
• Refinancing to combine or lower payments

Reconstruct the respondent's real repayment experience: anchor on the confidence score they gave and ask them to describe a specific recent moment (a bill, a call with their servicer, a plan change) that shaped that number. If they flagged stress or dissatisfaction with their servicer, probe exactly what happened and what they wish had gone differently. If they picked a top priority in the trade-off question, ask why that would help more than the alternatives.

Before this survey, were you aware of any loan forgiveness or discharge programs you might qualify for?

• Yes, and I've applied or enrolled
• Yes, but I haven't applied
• No, I wasn't aware
• Not sure if I qualify for any

What is your current employment status?

• Employed full-time
• Employed part-time
• Self-employed
• Unemployed, looking for work
• Student
• Prefer not to say

What is your age range?

• 18-24
• 25-34
• 35-44
• 45-54
• 55 or older
• Prefer not to say

Thank you for sharing your experience! Your responses will be combined with others to identify where borrowers need clearer information and better support — no individual answers will be shared outside our research team.