Baylor’s Debt Trap: How “Predatory Inclusion” Exploited Working Class Families

Stephen Burd’s report, “A Case of Predatory Inclusion at Baylor University” (New America), exposes how Baylor steered low-income families into crippling debt through its heavy use of Parent PLUS loans. These federal loans—uncapped and offered without serious consideration of family income—became Baylor’s enrollment weapon of choice, enabling the university to build prestige, rise in rankings, and fund its expansion.

Burd’s framing of predatory inclusion cuts to the core of higher education’s contradictions. Baylor marketed itself as an accessible Christian institution while pushing financial products that trapped vulnerable families in long-term, high-risk debt. Enrollment management firms and internal strategists ensured that this system disproportionately affected those least able to repay.

The piece also places Baylor’s behavior in historical context: a small Baptist school transforming into a national powerhouse through sports, branding, and strategic manipulation of financial aid. It’s a reminder that universities often chase prestige at the expense of their mission.

Importantly, Burd acknowledges Baylor’s attempts to pivot. The Baylor Benefit Scholarship, which covers tuition for students from families earning under $50,000, along with a $1.5 billion campaign that created 870 endowed scholarships, show that reforms are possible. Still, these changes only came after years of exploitative practices that harmed families who trusted the institution.

Where Burd is strongest is in diagnosing the ethical failures of financial aid strategies that masquerade as opportunity. Where the piece is thinner is in mapping the broader systemic nature of the problem. Baylor is not an outlier—similar tactics are common across U.S. higher ed. But Burd’s phrase “predatory inclusion” is a valuable addition to the critical lexicon, one HEI readers should embrace and apply far beyond Waco, Texas.

For those tracking the political economy of higher education, the message is clear: inclusion without support is exploitation. Baylor’s case should be a rallying cry to demand transparency, rein in the misuse of Parent PLUS loans, and expose enrollment management practices that prey on working-class and poor families.

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Sources

• Stephen Burd, A Case of Predatory Inclusion at Baylor University, New America, June 2025. Link

• Eric Hoover, “How Baylor Used Parent PLUS Loans to Climb the Rankings,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 25, 2025.

• Josh Mitchell and Andrea Fuller, “Baylor University’s Big Bet on Parent Debt,” Wall Street Journal, October 2021.