Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
The federal government encourages human capital investment through lending and grant programs, but resources from these programs may also finance non-education activities for liquidity-constrained students. To explore this possibility, we use administrative data for federal student borrowers linked to tax records and a sharp discontinuity generated by the timing of a student's 24th birthday, which induces a jump in federal support. We estimate a corresponding increase in homeownership, with larger effects among those most financially constrained, and find supplemental evidence of lagged marriage and fertility effects. Analysis of earnings, savings, and heterogeneity favors liquidity over human capital in explaining the results.