Stark differences by race and ethnicity exist in student borrowing trends—but real progress to better understand Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American student borrowing depends on setting up the right conversation and narrative.

This collection of essays explores the complexities of student debt; focuses on changing systems rather than blaming individual borrowers; and puts Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous experts, leaders, and community members at the center of the discussion.

Photo: Lincoln Agnew

One application. Scores of questions. Untold hours of angst. Called the College Scholarship Service Profile, or CSS Profile, this complicated form is a gatekeeper for funds that many of the wealthiest colleges give out each year.

The application—used by more than 400,000 students annually—helps colleges and scholarship organizations allot more than $9 billion a year to students, often unlocking doors to a new life. But the same process that expands opportunity for some applicants contracts it for others. Low-income and first-generation applicants who could benefit greatly by submitting the form often struggle to complete it. And sometimes they give up.