A Look at the Shocking Student Loan Debt Statistics for 2022
07 Mar 2023In 2022, Americans continue to be burdened by student loan debt.
Among the class of 2020, 55% of bachelor’s degree recipients took out student loans, graduating with an average of $28,400 in federal and private debt. And 14% of parents with students in the class of 2019 — the latest data available — took out an average of $37,200 in federal parent PLUS loans.
But there are more scary student loan debt statistics. Americans owe nearly $1.75 trillion in student loan debt, spread out among about 46 million borrowers. That’s about $440 billion more than the total U.S. auto loan debt.
This page takes a look at the latest student loan debt statistics. Eligible borrowers looking to take more control could consider student loan refinancing as long as they think through any downsides.
(Data via the Federal Reserve, College Board and Saving for College)
Student loan debt statistics
Let’s start with a general picture of the student loan landscape. The most recent data highlights:
- Nearly $1.75 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt.
- About 46 million Americans have student loan debt (45.4 million of whom have federal debt).
- 11.1% of student loans were 90 days or more delinquent or were in default before the coronavirus pandemic (defaults were halted as part of the crisis relief measures).
- The average monthly student loan payment was $300 before the White House instituted the repayment moratorium (the suspension is in place through Aug. 31, 2022).
(Data via the Federal Reserve, College Board, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and LendingTree)
Public Service Loan Forgiveness statistics
(As of the latest available data from September 2021)
- PSLF borrowers: 1,318,076*
- Borrowers who submitted forgiveness applications: 535,940 (versus 179,371 as of September 2020)
- Borrowers who were granted PSLF: 10,776 (versus 3,469 as of September 2020)
- Average balance forgiven: $94,907 (versus $75,090 as of September 2020)
* Total number of borrowers who have one or more approved PSLF employment certification forms
(Note: Borrowers are self-identified based on certification form submissions. Source: Federal Student Aid.)
Federal student loan portfolio
(Updated for September 2022)
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 | $1.38 trillion | 37.0 million borrowers |
| FFEL loans | $230.4 billion | 10.2 million borrowers |
| Perkins loans | $4.4 billion | 1.5 million borrowers |
| Total (all federal) | $1.61 trillion | 43.4 million unduplicated borrowers |
STUDENT LOAN DEBT STATISTICS BY LOAN TYPE
| Stafford subsidized | $291.5 billion | 30.0 million borrowers |
| Stafford unsubsidized | $563.5 billion | 30.0 million borrowers |
| Stafford combined | $855.0 billion | 34.2 million unique recipients |
| Grad PLUS | $90.7 billion | 1.6 million borrowers |
| Parent PLUS | $105.4 billion | 3.7 million borrowers |
| Perkins | $4.4 billion | 1.5 million borrowers |
| Consolidation | $555.1 billion | 11.3 million borrowers |
STUDENT LOAN DEBT STATISTICS BY LOAN STATUS (DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM)
| Loans in repayment | $16.2 billion | 0.5 million borrowers |
| Loans in deferment | $112.9 billion | 3.1 million borrowers |
| Loans in forbearance | $967.7 billion | 24.0 million borrowers |
| Loans in default | $112.3 billion | 5.1 million borrowers |
| Loans in grace period | $40.8 billion | 1.6 million borrowers |
STUDENT LOAN STATISTICS BY REPAYMENT PLAN (DIRECT LOAN PROGRAM)
| Level repayment plan (10 years or less) |
$201.6 billion | 10.5 million borrowers |
| Level repayment plan (greater than 10 years) |
$75.6 billion | 1.7 million borrowers |
| Graduated repayment plan (10 years or less) |
$90.6 billion | 3.1 million borrowers |
| Graduated repayment plan (greater than 10 years) |
$16.9 billion | 340,000 borrowers |
| Income-contingent (ICR) | $37.4 billion | 770,000 borrowers |
| Income-based (IBR) | $172.8 billion | 2.8 million borrowers |
| Pay As You Earn (PAYE) | $111.7 billion | 1.5 million borrowers |
| Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE) | $199.7 billion | 3.3 million borrowers |
| Alternative | $47.5 billion | 1.4 million borrowers |
(Data via Federal Student Aid)
More shocking student loan debt statistics
If those numbers weren’t stunning enough, here’s a closer look at how students accumulate debt based on the type of school they attend:
- 55% of bachelor’s degree recipients graduating from four-year public and private nonprofit colleges in 2020 had student loan debt.
- The average debt at graduation from four-year public and private nonprofit colleges was $28,400 in 2020, a $400 decrease from 2019.
- 66% of graduates from public colleges had loans (borrowing an average of $26,900), according to 2016 data from an April 2019 report — the latest available.
- 68% of graduates from private, nonprofit colleges had loans in 2016 (borrowing an average of $31,450).
- 83% of graduates from for-profit colleges had loans in 2016 (borrowing an average of $39,900).
- Students and parents borrowed an estimated $95.9 billion in the 2020-2021 academic year, and 13% of that were private and other non-federal loans.
- 48% of borrowers who attended for-profit colleges default within 12 years, compared with 12% of public college attendees and 14% of nonprofit college attendees.
(Data via College Board and the Institute for College Access and Success — here and here)
Private student loan debt statistics
- Americans owe more than $136 billion to private student lenders.
- Private student loan debt volume hit an estimated $12 billion in the 2020-2021 academic year.
- 90% of undergraduate and 63% of graduate private loans were cosigned by someone else during the 2020-2021 academic year.
- More than half of undergraduates (53%) don’t take full advantage of federal student loans, borrowing private loans before they’ve exhausted their available federal loans.
- 16% of student loans for the class of 2019 were private.
- Interest rates for cosigned private loans averaged 10.20% in 2019.
(Data via the Institute for College Access and Success (here and here), College Board, and MeasureOne)
As these student loan debt statistics show, the cost of attending college can be a heavy burden for a considerable portion of Americans.
