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It’s no secret that student loans are a hot topic in the United States nowadays. They are mentioned in the news, both in a positive and negative light, almost every day.
With all of this news circulating around, it’s natural to become curious about the numbers behind student loan debt.
This page takes a look at key student loan statistics and serves as a directory of other pages where you can find more information.
On this page:
- Average Student Loan Debt Statistics
- Federal Student Loan Statistics
- Private Student Loan Statistics
- Graduate Student Loan Statistics
- Student Loan Statistics Resources
Average Student Loan Debt Statistics
- $1.61 trillion: the total amount of outstanding student loan debt (source)
- 44.5 million: the total number of student loan borrowers (source)
- $28,565: the average student loan debt per borrower from the Class of 2018 (source)
- $16,649: the average student loan debt per graduate from the Class of 2018 (source)
- 57%: the percentage of graduates from the Class of 2018 with student debt (source)
- 10.9%: the percentage of student debt that is 90+ days delinquent or in default (source)
- $393: the average monthly student loan payment for borrowers with loans not in delinquency or default (source)
- $222: the median monthly student loan payment for borrowers with loans not in delinquency or default (source)
Federal Student Loans Statistics
By Loan Status (as of March 2019)
Status | # Borrowers | Total Amount |
In-School | 7.06 million | $138.2 billion |
Grace Period | 1.29 million | $23.9 billion |
Repayment | 20.18 million | $708.4 billion |
Deferment | 3.87 million | $132.5 billion |
Forbearance | 2.80 million | $126.0 billion |
Other | 0.19 million | $9.1 billion |
By Loan Type (as of March 2019)
Loan Type | # Borrowers | Total Amount |
Stafford Unsubsidized | 28.7 million | $503.5 billion |
Stafford Subsidized | 29.5 million | $280.0 billion |
Parent PLUS | 3.5 million | $93.9 billion |
Grad PLUS | 1.3 million | $70.7 billion |
Perkins | 2.2 million | $6.6 billion |
Consolidation | 11.8 million | $521.8 billion |
By Repayment Plan (as of March 2019)
Repayment Plan | # Borrowers | Total Amount |
Standard | 14.2 million | $309.7 billion |
Graduated | 3.7 million | $111.0 billion |
Income-Contingent | 700 thousand | $31.9 billion |
Income-Based | 3.6 million | $194.0 billion |
Pay As You Earn | 1.3 million | $89.8 billion |
Revised PAYE | 2.7 million | $153.1 billion |
Alternative | 1.2 million | $33.2 billion |
Other | N/A | $37.1 billion |
By Debt Size (as of March 2019)
Debt Size | # Borrowers | Total Amount |
<$5K | 7.9 million | $20.2 billion |
$5k – $10k | 7.7 million | $55.7 billion |
$10k – $20k | 9.4 million | $136.2 billion |
$20k – $40k | 9.5 million | $270.0 billion |
$40k – $60k | 4.1 million | $201.4 billion |
$60k – $80k | 2.5 million | $171.2 billion |
$80k – $100k | 1.3 million | $113.5 billion |
$100k – $200k | 2.1 million | $290.4 billion |
>$200k | 800 thousand | $222.3 billion |
By Borrower Age (as of March 2019)
Age | # Borrowers | Total Amount |
24 or Younger | 8.13 million | $124.6 billion |
25 – 34 | 15.12 million | $497.6 billion |
35 – 49 | 14.07 million | $557.6 billion |
50 – 61 | 5.91 million | $230.4 billion |
62+ | 2.0 million | $70.44 billion |
Source: Federal Student Aid site
Public Service Loan Forgiveness Statistics (as of September 2018)
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program discharges the debt of borrowers who work in the public sector after 120 monthly payments are made.
Here are some statistics about the program:
- 1,173,420: Borrowers who requested to certify their loans and employment as eligible for PSLF
- 890,516: Borrowers who had their employment and loans certified as eligible for
- 19,321: Borrowers who submitted a loan forgiveness application under PSLF
- 55: Borrowers who were approved for forgiveness under PSLF
Source: United States Government Accountability Office
What Congress Thinks About Student Debt
In February 2017, LendEDU analyzed what members of Congress thought about various issues related to paying for college including federal student loans, federal student loan refinancing, Pell Grants, tax benefits, and more. For each issue, we found what overall proportion of congressmen supported legislation and also broke it down on by party.
Click below to view the PDF of the study to learn more about what congressmen around the nation think about these issues.
Private Student Loan Statistics
- $123.14 billion: the total amount of private student loan debt (source)
- 7.71%: the percentage of total outstanding student debt that is from private student loans (source)
- $13,780: the average private student loan amount (source)
- 8.86%: the average interest rate on private student loans (source)
- 8.81%: average variable rate
- 9.97%: average fixed rate
- 21.04%: the average approval rate for all private student loan applications (source)
- 40.51%: average approval rate with a cosigner
- 8.66%: average approval rate without a cosigner
- 737: the average credit score of approved private student loan applicants (source)
- $72,947: the average income of approved private student loan applicants (source)
- 2.48%: percent of private student loans that are 30 to 89 days past due (source)
- 1.50%: percent of private student loans that are 90+ days past due (source)
- Over 100: the number of private student loan lenders
Graduate Student Loan Statistics
- Average Graduate School Debt: $57,600* (source)
- Average Medical School Debt: $196,520** (source)
- Average Law School Debt: $48,000 to $340,000** (source)
- Average Dental School Debt: $285,184* (source)
- Average Vet School Debt: $143,757* (source)
- Average Pharmacy School Debt: $166,528** (source)
*Cumulative undergraduate & graduate debt.
**Graduate debt only.
More Student Loan Debt Statistics Articles
- Average Law School Debt
- Average Medical School Debt
- Average Pharmacy School Debt
- Average Dental School Debt
- Average Vet School Debt
- Average Chiropractor School Debt
- Average Cost of College Statistics
Student Loan Debt Studies
- Student Loan Debt by School by State Report 2019
- Student Loan Debt by School by State Report 2018
- How Student Loan Debt Has Changed at Schools Over the Past Decade
- State of Private Student Loans Report 2019
- College Risk-Reward Indicator 2019
- College Risk-Reward Indicator 2018
- College Risk-Reward Indicator 2017
- College Risk-Reward Indicator 2016
- Who Pays for College Study
- College Dropouts & Student Debt Study
- Colleges Where Parents Take on the Least Student Debt
- U.S. Cities With the Highest Student Debt Balances
- Small Public Colleges with the Least Student Debt Per Borrower
- Small Private Colleges with the Least Student Debt Per Borrower
- Colleges With the Least Student Debt Per Borrower in the Northeast
- Colleges With the Least Student Debt Per Borrower in the Southeast
- Colleges With the Least Student Debt Per Borrower in the Rockies
- Colleges With the Least Student Debt Per Borrower in the Southwest
- Colleges With the Least Student Debt Per Borrower in the Pacific
- A Deeper Look at the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study
- Greek Life Members Using Student Loan Money for Dues Study
- NYC Finances Neighborhood by Neighborhood
- San Francisco Finances Neighborhood by Neighborhood