Average Student Loan Debt Data That You Should Know

Average Student Loan Debt: Are you having a student loan debt? Not to worry you are not the only one in this. In fact, there are over 44 million student loan borrowers in the U.S.

The amazing thing is that, student loan debts surpasses all other forms of debt in the U.S. that is aside from housing debt. When it comes to student loan, comparing to housing debt which is a close second, that is surpassing credit loan debt, auto loan debt, and other consumer debt.

Any recent college student or parent of a student knows; obtaining a degree requires financial sacrifice more than usual nowadays. Over the past three decades, the average cost to attend a public four-year institution has more than tripled, and more than doubled at private four-year schools, Board.

Given the prevalence of student loan debt and the emergence of student loan forgiveness programs, we’re breaking down the average student loan debt as well as other student loan debt statistics for you to help you understand the student debt landscape.

Average Student Loan Debt Facts

Looking at student loan debt statistics can give context to the student loan crisis and the financial reality for many college graduates. You’ll learn how many people have student loan debt, how many are falling behind on payments, and more. Here are some of the overall statistics about student loan debt;

Student loan borrowers: 44 million

Total student loans debt: $1.48 trillion

Student loan delinquency rate: 10.8 percent

Graduates with student loans debt: 65 percent

Average student loans debt for class of 2018: $29,200

Average monthly student loan payment: $393

Median monthly payment: $222

As you can see from these student loan debt statistics, more students graduate college with student loans than not. The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) found that 65 percent of students who graduated in 2018, from both public as well as private nonprofit colleges, had student loans debt.

The Institute also found the average student loan debts for the class of 2018 was $29,200. When it comes to total student loans debt, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York along with the Center for Microeconomic Data tracks levels of debt each quarter.

Their quarterly report on Household Debt and Credit covers a range of information, including the amount of outstanding student loan balances. As of August 2019, outstanding student loan balances stood at $1.48 trillion dollars.

Types of Average Student Loan Debts

Sixty-five percent of the class of 2018 graduated with student debt, according to the most recent data available from The Institute for College Access & Success.

A nonprofit organization that works to improve higher education access and affordability. Among these graduates, the average student loans debt was $29,200.

Students who pursue professional degree programs can expect to take on much more. Here’s how the average student loan debt compares for the class of 2018.

Federal Student Loan data

Many different types of federal student loans make up the federal student loan portfolio. We’re going to do a deep dive into the specifics regarding all the various types of loans as well as how many borrowers have those types of loans.

This information is from Q3 2018 from the Federal Student Aid’s Loan Portfolio.

Outstanding Direct Loans: $1.2 trillion

Direct Loan borrowers: 34.3 million

Outstanding FFEL Loans: $266 billion

FFEL Loan borrowers: 12.4 million

Outstanding Perkins Loans: $6.3 billion

Perkins Loans borrowers: 2.1 million

While those numbers are the general sums for those federal student loan categories, here are even more specifics by each loan type.

Outstanding Stafford Subsidized Loans: $277.4 billion

Stafford Subsidized Loan borrowers: 29.1 million

Outstanding Stafford Unsubsidized Loans: $504.2 billion

Stafford Unsubsidized Loan borrowers: 28.3 million

Outstanding Grad PLUS Loans: $71.9 billion

Grad PLUS loan borrowers: 1.3 million

Outstanding Parent PLUS Loans: $92.9 billion

Parent PLUS loan borrowers: 3.5 million

Outstanding Consolidation Loans: $528.4 billion

Consolidation Loan borrowers: 11.8 million

Source: Federal Student Aid’s Loan Portfolio

Private Student Loan Data

When it comes to statistics, most of the numbers are related to federal student loans. But the private student loan market isn’t exactly small. There are quite a number of private student loan borrowers and loans that are private. This data is from MeasureOne from the report:

Private student loan balance: $66.07 billion

Average Private student loan percentage for undergraduates: 88.15%

Private student loan percentage for graduate students: 11.85%

Average Private student loan in repayment: 75.37%

Private student loan debts in deferment: 20.02%

Source: MeasureOne

Income-Driven Repayment

A good way to avoid delinquency and default — and to make loans more manageable is through income-driven repayment. However, there is information out there that not as many borrowers are taking advantage of this program. Let’s take a look at the numbers.

Outstanding Loans on Income-Based Repayment (IBR): $170.3 billion

Borrowers on IBR: 2.78 million

Outstanding Loans on Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR): $32.7 billion

Borrowers on ICR: 0.7 million

Outstanding Loans on Pay As You Earn (PAYE): $93.4 billion

Borrowers on PAYE: 1.37 million

Outstanding Loan on Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE): $161.4 billion

Borrowers on REPAYE: 2.80 million

Source: Federal Student Aid’s Loan Portfolio

Summary

As you can see from these statistics,it is a concern for many people. Who it affects and how it affects them, however, varies greatly depending on the context.

The numbers can provide a snapshot of where things are at, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t tell the stories of individual borrowers and showcase their experiences.