Lucia Constantine ‌

Lucia Constantine

Senior Researcher

Lucia Constantine is a senior researcher at the Center for Responsible Lending focusing on mortgage lending and predatory debt practices. Prior to working with CRL, Lucia was a senior policy analyst at the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, where she performed data analysis and research to understand gaps in affordable housing across the state and inform use of state and federal funds. Before her work in affordable housing, she spent her early career in nonprofits and higher education, focused on issues related to immigration, civic engagement and economic development.

She graduated with a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University and a Master’s in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she received the NC-APA Outstanding Student Award. Outside of work, Lucia enjoys hiking with her dog, reading fiction and socializing.

Research & Policy

Maximizing Impact: How a Simple Administrative Policy Shift Could Expand Access to Homeownership for Potential Buyers Repaying Student Loans Under the SAVE Program

Maximizing Impact: How a Simple Administrative Policy Shift Could Expand Access to Homeownership for Potential Buyers Repaying Student Loans Under the SAVE Program

The Department of Education’s newly launched income-driven repayment (IDR) program, “Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE),” represents a significant step forward in improving the affordability of federal student loan repayments for millions of borrowers. SAVE accomplishes that goal by basing repayment on a realistic estimate of a borrower’s discretionary income considering the borrower’s family size and reducing the amount of...
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Research
Mortgage Lending Student Loans

“Paying from the Grave”: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Alumni and the Burden of Student Loan Debt

“Paying from the Grave”: Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Alumni and the Burden of Student Loan Debt

More than 44 million people in the United States—roughly one in six adults—collectively hold more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt. Although many Americans are burdened by their student loan debt, borrowers who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been especially hard hit, due to the impacts of systemic racism on wealth accumulation for families and...
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Research
Student Loans