Student Debt Statistics

With loans being the primary source of federal aid today, students of all types need debt management and financial literacy skills. Here are some fast facts about students and debt today.

Undergraduate Students

• – Number of undergraduate students attending 4-year schools in 2007: 8,986,150
  Source: National Center for Education Statistics
• – Between 2007 and 2018, undergraduate enrollment in 4-year colleges is expected to increase by 12%, while enrollment in 2-year colleges is expected to increase by 13%.
  Source: National Center for Education Statistics
• – In each year between 2000 – 01 and 2006 – 07, an estimated 60% of bachelor’s degree recipients borrowed to fund their education. Average debt per borrower rose 18%, from $19,300 to $22,700 in 2007 dollars over this time period. Average debt per bachelor’s degree recipient increased from $10,600 to $12,400.
  Source: The College Board (Trends in Student Aid – 2008)
• – In 2008, 84% of undergraduates had at least 1 credit card, up from 76% in 2004, the last time the study was conducted. The average number of cards has grown to 4.6, and half of college students had 4 or more cards.
  
• – Undergraduates are carrying record-high credit card balances. The average (mean) balance grew to $3,173, the highest in the years the study has been conducted. Median debt grew from 2004's $946 to $1,645. 21% of undergraduates had balances of between $3,000 and $7,000, also up from the last study.
  Source: Sallie Mae
• – In 2007 – 2008, lenders provided about $17 billion in private loans, a 592% increase from a decade earlier.
  Source: The College Board (Trends in Student Aid – 2008)
• – Nonfederal student loans grew rapidly for most of the decade, increasing from 7% of education loans in 1997 – 98 to 23% in 2005 – 06. However, the growth in these loans, which carry no subsidy and generally have less favorable terms than federal loans, slowed in 2006 – 07. Private loan volume declined slightly in inflation-adjusted dollars in 2007 – 08, but still represents 23% of the total loan volume.
  Source: The College Board (Trends in Student Aid – 2008)
• – In the 2007 – 2008 year, proprietary schools at all levels and private (non-profit) 4-year schools had disproportionate numbers of students taking out private loans.
  
  • – Students attending proprietary schools composed about 9% of total undergraduates, but 27% of those taking out private loans.
  • – Students attending private 4-year schools composed about 13% of total undergraduates but 22% of those taking out private loans.
  • – In contrast, the percentage of private loan borrowers who attend public 4-year schools (28%) is basically the same as the percentage of undergraduates overall who attend public 4-year schools (29%).
  
  Source: Project on Student Debt

Graduate Students

• – The following table shows the percentage borrowing and average amount of cumulative debt per borrower among graduate students according to degree program:
  
  

  Debt Burdens of Graduate Students by Degree Program

  	Graduate Education Debt		All Education Debt (Grad & Undergrad)
  Graduate & Professional Degree Programs	Percent Borrowing	Cumulative Debt	Percent Borrowing	Cumulative Debt
  Total	56.40%	$40,297	69.60%	$47,503
  Master’s Degree	55.20%	$31,031	69.40%	$40,208
  Doctoral Degree	45.80%	$57,860	56.30%	$58,967
  Professional Degree	86.20%	$87,308	87.90%	$98,711
  Master of Business Administration (MBA)	55.50%	$31,927	68.90%	$41,676
  Master of Social Work (MSW)	72.30%	$35,516	77.70%	$49,017
  Master of Science (MS)	49.80%	$30,684	63.50%	$40,362
  Master of Arts (MA)	60.80%	$29,975	73.70%	$40,500
  PhD	35.40%	$44,995	48.00%	$45,455
  EdD	65.10%	$43,812	73.30%	$44,880
  Law (LLB or JD)	88.60%	$80,081	88.60%	$92,937
  Medicine or Osteopathic Medicine	81.90%	$119,424	83.20%	$127,272
  Pharmacy (PharmD)	82.20%	$63,412	85.00%	$81,838

  Source: Finaid.org (data is from NPSAS 2007 – 08)
  
  
• – In 2006, 92% of graduate students have at least 1 credit card. This is a 4% decrease from the 96% who had credit cards in 2003.
  Source: Nellie Mae
• – The average outstanding balance on graduate student credit cards is $8,612, an increase of 10% from the 2003 average of $7,831.
  Source: Nellie Mae

Minority Students

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (table 2)

• – Number of undergraduate Hispanic students in 2007: 1,915,900
  Source: National Center for Education Statistics
• – The largest and fastest-growing minority group was Hispanics, who reached 46.9 million in 2008, up by 3.2% from 2007. In 2008, nearly 1 in 6 U.S. residents was Hispanic
• – 34% of Hispanics are under 18 compared with 24% of the total U.S. population (2008)
  Source: Census
• – By 2014, Hispanic students will account for 20.5% of all high school graduates.
  Source: The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
• – In 2007, Hispanic students accounted for 8.7% of students enrolled at 4-year institutions. The majority of Hispanics (51%) attend 2-year institutions.
  Source: National Center for Education Statistics

The Non-traditional Student

• – According to a recent study (2008) by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), 81% of organizations provide tuition assistance programs
  Source: The Institute for Corporate Productivity
• – A 2007 study of large U.S. employers by Mercer Human Resource Consulting reported that 87% offered some type of educational assistance to employees. When small- to medium-sized employers are included, the share drops to about 35%, according to a 2004 study by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL).
  Source: The Minnesota Private College Council, Fund and Research Foundation