Flickr user Reza
A look at some of the main student loan stats offers some interesting insights into the real picture of student loans. For example, for several years in a row, student loan debt has held the dubious distinction of being the second-highest consumer debt category. The leading consumer debt category has consistently been mortgages.
Here are some of the more notable student loan stats and facts.
Statistics on Federal and Private Student Loan Debt
According to EducationData.org, student loan debt in the United States is estimated to be about $1.757 trillion dollars. This includes both federal and private student loans.
About 43.5 million borrowers have federal student loan debt. Private student loans account for the remaining.
The average federal student loan debt balance is estimated to be about $37,584. This is much lower than the average total student loan debt, which may be as high as $39,590. This takes into consideration federal and private student loan debt.
The rate of debt accumulation is showing signs of slowing down.
The federal government offers a few different loan programs including direct loans, Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), and Perkins Loans. Currently, direct loans make up 76% of the loans with FFEL making up 23.4% and Perkins the remaining 0.60%.
As of 2021, there has been a drastic drop in the number of students taking out private student loans. Back in 2008, student loan stats showed that outstanding debt was $25.8 billion, compared to the $11.6 billion that it is today.
Student Debt Statistics By Loan Borrowers
The outstanding debt is in several different parts of repayment status. For example, $120 billion under federal direct loans is currently held by students still attending school while only $41.7 billion is in the 6 month grace period after graduation. $554 billion is in repayment, but over 4 million students and graduates are currently defaulting on their loans. They owe about $78.9 billion all together and make up about 12.2% of the people who have taken out direct loans.
There are also different repayment plans that are available for direct loans. About 11.3 million students or graduates have a repayment plan where they’ll pay it back in less than 10 years, but another 1.71 million students will take over 10 years. Nearly 3 million students are also taking advantage of Income Based Repayment and another 1 million students or graduates are using Pay as You Earn Repayment plans (PAYE).
Statistics On Student Loan Debt By Type of University
Students attending public universities take on an average of $31,400 in student loan debt to acquire a bachelor’s degree. Students attending private, non-profit universities take on about $35,983 in student loan debt. And students attending private, for-profit universities borrow much more, averaging about $42,551 in student loan debt.
Statistics On Federal Student Loan Debt By Degree
Associate’s degree holders have an average federal student debt of about $23,500. Borrowers holding bachelor’s degrees have an average of $34,800 in federal student loan debt. Graduate students owe an average of $90,170 in cumulative federal student loan debt.
An estimated 54.2% of students who have completed graduate school are still paying off their undergrad federal student loan debt.
An estimated 74.5% of professional doctorate holders are still paying off their undergraduate federal student loan debt. Another 73.5% owe for undergraduate school.
Some student loan stats suggest that Doctors of Medicine are most likely to have unpaid loans from both undergrad and grad school. An estimated 80.3% owe undergraduate school debt, and 81% owe graduate school debt.
There are definitely lots of student debt statistics out there surrounding both, private and federal loans. However, it’s interesting to note that while the amount of money taken out in private loans has gone down since 2008, the actual amount of total debt has increased by over 38%! This could be attributed to the fact that college tuition has increased dramatically over the years.
Are you looking for student loans? Use College Raptor’s free Student Loan Finder to compare lenders and interest rates side by side!
| Lender | Rates (APR) | Eligibility | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
5.34%-15.96%* Variable
3.99%-15.61%* Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT CITIZENS |
|
|
4.92% - 15.08% Variable
3.99% - 15.49% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT SALLIE MAE |
 |
4.50% - 17.99% Variable
3.49% - 17.99% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT CREDIBLE |
 |
6.00% - 13.75% Variable
3.99% - 13.75% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT LENDKEY |
 |
5.50% - 14.56% Variable
3.69% - 14.41% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT ASCENT |
 |
3.70% - 8.75% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT ISL |
 |
4.99% - 16.85% Variable
3.47% - 16.49% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT EARNEST |
 |
5.00% - 14.22% Variable
3.69% - 14.22% Fixed
|
Undergraduate and Graduate
|
VISIT ELFI |
