Updated: Feb. 4, 2019
It’s 2019, and Americans are more burdened by student loan debt than ever.
Among the Class of 2018, 69% of college students took out student loans, and they graduated with an average debt of $29,800, including both private and federal debt. Meanwhile, 14% of their parents took out an average of $35,600 in federal Parent PLUS loans.
You’ve probably heard another scary statistic: Americans owe over $1.56 trillion in student loan debt, spread out among about 45 million borrowers. That’s about $521 billion more than the total U.S. credit card debt.
But how does this break down at a more granular level? Are student loans being used to attend public or private universities? Is it mostly from four-year or graduate degrees? What percentage of overall graduates carry debt? Are more grads utilizing private student loan consolidation and refinancing?
Let’s take a look.
(Data provided by Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of research with SavingforCollege.com, as well as by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, unless otherwise specified.)
General student loan debt facts
First, let’s start with a general picture of the student loan landscape. The most recent reports indicate there is:
- $1.56 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt
- 44.7 million Americans with student loan debt
- 11.5% of student loans are 90 days or more delinquent or are in default
- Average monthly student loan payment (among those not in deferment): $393
- Median monthly student loan payment (among those not in deferment): $222
(Data via the U.S. Federal Reserve, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.)
Public Service Loan Forgiveness statistics
As of Q3 2018 (latest available data)
PSLF borrowers: 890,516*
Borrowers who attempted to certify for PSLF: 1,173,420
Borrowers who submitted forgiveness applications: 19,321
Borrowers who were granted PSLF: 55
* Total number of borrowers who have one or more approved PSLF Employment Certification Forms (ECF)
(Note: Borrowers are self-identified based on submission of an ECF. Source: United States Government Accountability Office, via the Report to Congressional Requesters)
Federal student loan portfolio
(updated for Q4 2018)
Now let’s dive into how much debt student loan borrowers carry by loan type, term and more.
Student loan debt statistics by loan program:
| Direct Loans | $1.1503 trillion | 34.2 million borrowers |
| FFEL Loans | $281.8 billion | 13.5 million borrowers |
| Perkins Loans | $7.1 billion | 2.3 million borrowers |
| Total (All Federal) | $1.4392 trillion | 42.9 million borrowers |
Student loan debt statistics by loan type:
| Stafford Subsidized | $277.5 billion | 29.6 million borrowers |
| Stafford Unsubsidized | $489.6 billion | 28.7 million borrowers |
| Stafford combined | $767.1 billion | 33.1 million unique recipients |
| Grad PLUS | $67.0 billion | 1.3 million borrowers |
| Parent PLUS | $89.9 billion | 3.6 million borrowers |
| Perkins | $7.1 billion | 2.3 million borrowers |
| Consolidation | $508.0 billion | 11.9 million borrowers |
Data via Studentaid.ed.gov
Student debt statistics by loan status (Direct Loan Program)
| Loans in repayment | $623.7 billion | 17.8 million borrowers |
| Loans in deferment | $124.3 billion | 3.7 million borrowers |
| Loans in forbearance | $111.1 billion | 2.6 million borrowers |
| Loans in default | $101.4 billion | 5.1 million borrowers |
| Loans in grace period | $43.9 billion | 1.7 million borrowers |
Student loan statistics by repayment plan (Direct Loan Program)
| Level Repayment Plan(10 years or less) | $196.2 billion | 10.83 million borrowers |
| Level Repayment Plan(greater than 10 years) | $76.5 billion | 1.69 million borrowers |
| Graduated repayment plan(10 years or less) | $84.2 billion | 3.03 million borrowers |
| Graduated repayment plan(greater than 10 years) | $15.1 billion | 320,000 borrowers |
| Income-Contingent (ICR) | $29.9 billion | 660,000 borrowers |
| Income-Based (IBR) | $168.5 billion | 2.83 million borrowers |
| Pay As You Earn (PAYE) | $78.9 billion | 1.27 million borrowers |
| Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) | $136.7 billion | 2.45 million borrowers |