I am looking for data on the amount loaned to students from Canadian Student Loans from the Survey of Consumer Finance from 1993 to 2010. I could use most statistical packages. If the data is in .dta or .csv, that would be great. Please let me know if the library has the data.
Answer
This survey has a fairly complex history. This link will set out the overall changes: <http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=3502 &lang=en&db=imdb&adm=8&dis=2>
As mentioned, it was replaced by SLID – which has also been discontinued:
Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics
The final release of longitudinal data from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics was published on June 18, 2012. Statistics Canada will continue to conduct a survey to produce annual estimates on income. <http://www42.statcan.ca/smr09/smr09_039a-eng.htm>
There is a website called Equinox: <http://equinox.uwo.ca/EN/BasicSearch.asp> where almost all of the Statistics Canada micro-data that have been released to universities through the DLI is available for down-load. The data files are all ASCII matrices, but command files are provided for the user to generate the format of choice. I would suggest that you check out the data there, as it will show you exactly what types of expenditure files were generated through the SCF while it was being conducted. If you have any problems using the Stata Do-files that you download from Equinox.
I does not look like data from the Canadian Student Loans Program is available.
However, I did a brief search and came across the following article Student loans: borrowing and burden (Product: Education Quarterly Review, vol. 8 no. 04) <http://www5.statcan.gc. ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=81-003-X20010046387>, which addresses issues around student borrowing and debt loads, using data from the Canadian Student Loan Program. They survey consulted for this study was the National Graduates Survey(NGS) <http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5012&Item _Id=122603>
Another publication of potential interest: Student loans: Is it getting harder? Borrowing, burdens, and repayment <http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=81-589-X20010015847>. Dr. Finnie began his paper and his presentation by noting that since its commencement in 1964, the Canadian Student Loan Program (CSLP) has aided millions of Canadians in meeting career goals and taking their education to a higher level.
