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.
- Average debt for medical school graduates: $196,520.
- Average debt for dental school graduates: $285,184.
- Debt for pharmacy school graduates: $166,528.
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.