55 percent of bachelor's degree recipients in the class of 2020 ended up taking out student loans, finishing with an average debt of $28,400 in federal and private loans.
And, according to the most recent data available, 14 percent of parents with students in the class of 2019 borrowed an aggregate of $37,200 in federal parent PLUS loans.
There are, however, more alarming student loan debt figures. Roughly $1.75 trillion in student loan debt has been accumulated by nearly 46 million people in the United States. That's nearly $440 billion greater than the total amount owed on vehicle loans in the United States.
This page examines the most recent data on student loan debt. If eligible borrowers want to have more control over their finances, they should explore refinancing their student loans, as long as they evaluate the drawbacks.
(Federal Reserve, CollegeBoard, and Saving for College provided data.)
Stats on student loan debtLet's begin with a broad overview of the student loan situation. The following are some of the most recent statistics:
- The overall amount of student loan debt in the United States is nearly $1.75 trillion.
- A total of 46 million Americans are in debt due to student loans (45.4 million of whom have federal debt).
- Before the coronavirus epidemic, 11.1 percent of student loans were 90 days or longer overdue or in default (defaults were halted as part of the crisis relief measures).
- Before the White House implemented the repayment freeze, the typical monthly debt payment was $300. (the suspension is in place through Aug. 31, 2022).
- (Federal Reserve, CollegeBoard, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and LendingTree data.)
Data on Loan Forgiveness in the Public Sector (As of the latest available data from September 2021)
Borrowers in the PSLF: 1,318,076
* The number of borrowers who filed for forgiveness was 535,940. (versus 179,371 as of September 2020)
PSLF was awarded to 10,776 borrowers (versus 3,469 as of September 2020)
Average amount forgiven: $94,907 (compared to $75,090 in September 2020).
* Total number of borrowers with one or more PSLF employment certification forms that have been authorized
(Note: Borrowers are self-identified based on the submission of certification forms.) Federal Student Aid is the source of this information.)
Portfolio of Federal Student Loans
(This page has been updated for September 2021.) (The tab image mentioned on this website has all the stats https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/)
Let's look at how much debt student loan debtors have depending on the loan type, term, and other factors.
Student loan debt stats that are even more alarming
If those figures weren't impressive enough, consider how students amass debt depending on the type of institution they attend:
- In 2020, 55 percent of bachelor's degree recipients from 4 year governmental and private charitable universities will have debt from student loans.
- In 2020, the average debt from 4-year governmental and nongovernmental charitable institutions was $28,400, down $400 from 2019.
- According to 2016 data from an April 2019 report - the most recent available - 66 percent of graduates from public universities have debt (borrowing an average of $26,900).
- In 2016, 68 percent of graduates from private, charitable universities took out loans, averaging $31,450.
- In 2016, 83 percent of for-profit college graduates had debt (borrowing an average of $39,900).
- In the 2020-2021 academic year, students and parents acquired an estimated $95.9 billion, with private and other non-federal loans accounting for 13% of the total.
In comparison to 12 percent of public college students and 14 percent of charitable college students, 48 percent of debtors who attended for-profit universities default within 12 years.
(See here and here for data from CollegeBoard and the Institute for College Access and Success.)
Stats on Private Student Loan Debt
Image credits: Pexels
Further Student Loans
Student loans are intended to pay only a portion of educational expenses. Many students loan money from other sources to meet living expenses throughout their college years and perhaps other institution-related expenses that are not supported by their student loans.
- A balance on a student loan is owned by 95% of borrowers with outstanding debt connected to their own education.
- A credit card balance is held by 23% of debtors with existing educational debt.
- A home equity loan was used by 4% of indebted borrowers, while 11 percent used another sort of loan.
- Home equity loans were used by 11% of indebted people who borrowed to pay for their offspring's or grandchild's education.
Student Debt Statistics
Student Loan Debt by State and Graduation Year are included in detailed demographic reports.
Read our report on Student Loan Debt by Gender for more information.
Race and Ethnicity Differences in Student Loan Debt
- Black college students are by far the most inclined to take out federal loans (49.4%), while Asian students are the least able (62%) to take out federal loans.
- In the first twelve years of repayment, 30% of black degree holders default on their student loans.
- White students are the most likely to take out private loans, with 7.1 percent doing so; American Indian and Alaska Native students, on the other hand, are the least inclined to take out private loans, with only 2.6 percent doing so.
- After four years, 48 percent of Black graduates retain an average of 12.5 percent more than they acquired.
- White and Caucasian debtors are responsible for 54% of all student loan debt.
Read our report on Student Loan Debt by Race for additional information.
Debt from Student Loans by Age
Read our report on Student Loan Debt by Age for additional information.
Educational Attainment and Student Loan Debt
Debt Stagnation: What Can Be Done?
- Exploitative private lenders targeted undergraduates with bad loans, just as they did homebuyers, prior to the Great Recession of 2008.
- These loan tactics were disproportionately used by for-profit institutions that enrolled low-income pupils.
- In 2009, 27.15 percent of private loans were uncertified by schools.
- By 2019, only 0.06 percent of private loans had been certified by a school. Since then, these loans have been limited to prime clients with excellent credit scores.
- Some of the growth in the combined student loan total can almost certainly be ascribed to debts beginning during the substandard student loan era. For years to come, the economic implications of this form of predatory lending will most likely be visible in data trends.
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Experience with Student Debt
Even when loan distribution is equal, student loan debt experience differs depending on important contributors.
- Students who had taken on student loan debt felt it was not worth it in 52 percent of cases.
- Payments on student loans are increasing at a 6.6 percent annual rate.
- Because of their student loan debt, 53% of millennials have not purchased a home because they are either ineligible or unable to pay a mortgage.
- In 2018, 30% of college students were living on or around the poverty line.
- 14 percent of parents are single, and 56 percent spend more than 30 hours per week caring for their children.
- In college, 88 percent of single parents have salaries that are at or below 200 percent of the poverty level.
Eligibility for Loan Forgiveness
- The student loan forgiveness process looks to be hampered by confusing procedures and mistakes. Borrowers are frequently ignorant that they are qualified for loan forgiveness. Furthermore, borrowers who ought to be qualifying are rejected due to the loan servicer's incompetence or disinformation.
- Congress has never financed the Higher Education Act, which extended loan forgiveness in 2008.
- Student loan forgiveness will eventually benefit 0.7 percent of qualified borrowers.
- Loan forgiveness is applied for by 6.7 percent of qualified student debtors.
- Every indebted student borrower receives a $95.45 pardon from the federal government.
- Every year, the percentage of submissions that are denied increases.
- Since the program's inception, just over 1% of petitions for Public Service Loan Forgiveness have been granted.
- 0.032 percent of applicants were approved in the program's first year.
- PSLF is open to 3 million student loan holders, but just about 200,000 have applied.
- Over a million student loan debtors are either qualified or nearing qualification for student loan forgiveness in the United States, accounting for over 25% of the workforce.
- The Department of Education authorized $26.9 million of the $700 million set aside for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program.
- Administrative deception and corruption are two further causes of student loan forgiveness.
- View our report on Student Loan Forgiveness Statistics for more information.
As these student loan debt data demonstrate, the expense of attending college may be a significant financial hardship for many Americans.
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