What age groups hold the most student loan debt in the United States?

Asked by: Markus Kessler  |  Last update: July 17, 2023
Score: 4.9/5 (51 votes)

Student debt is most common in the 25-to-34 age group, but the greatest amount of debt is owed by those 35 to 49 — more than $600 billion in undergraduate, graduate and parent loans, as well as payments stretched out by forbearance or income-driven repayment plans.

What age group has the most student loan debt?

Federal Student Loans by Age

Unsurprisingly, younger people hold the majority of student loan debt. Borrowers between the ages of 25 and 34 carry about $500 billion in federal student loans—the majority of people in this age group owe between $10,000 and $40,000.

Who holds most of the student loan debt?

Total federal student loan debt

Most student loans — about 92% — are owned by the U.S. Department of Education. Total federal student loan borrowers: 43.8 million. Studentaid.gov.

What is the average age of people with student loan debt?

Individuals aged 50-to-61-year-old have the highest average student loan debt, with 35-to-49-year-olds following close behind them. Generational wealth may play a role in how much student loan debt a person accumulates and how fast they pay it off.

Who is the 34 year old with $250000 in student debt?

Meet a 34-year-old with $250,000 in student debt after 13 years of barely keeping up with her monthly interest payments: 'I never felt like I could get a handle on it' Janell Tryon owes more than $250,000 in student debt. $100,000 of that is from interest, despite 13 years of payments.

What Everyone's Getting Wrong About Student Loans

41 related questions found

Do millennials have the most student loan debt?

Even though millennials shoulder a large amount of debt, older Gen Zers (in June 2022) carried 13 percent more student debt when compared to older millennials' student debt (in June 2006).

How many students have borrowed over $200,000 for college?

Student Loan Borrowers by Debt Size

Only 1 million borrowers had debt over $200,000 in 2022. In the last five years, the number of borrowers with debts under $20,000 decreased by about 1.2 million borrowers. And the number of borrowers with debt larger than $20,000 increased by about 400,000 borrowers.

Do more than 45% of Millennials have student loan debt?

Almost half of millennials have student-loan debt and are, on average, $40,614 in the hole. In 2020, Insider reported that nearly 45% of millennials had student-loan debt. As of June 2022, 43.5% of older millennials aged 36 to 41 had a student-debt balance of $20,000 or less, according to the St. Louis Fed.

How many people over 65 have student loan debt?

Answer: Many of us think of the student loan crisis as a young person's issue, but in fact roughly 9 million Americans ages 50 and older have student loan debt. What's more, the amount of debt owed by this group is growing faster than other age groups, data from the Department of Education shows.

What's the average student loan debt for Americans over 60?

The U.S. Department of Education reports that roughly 2.4 million Americans ages 62 and older carry an average of $40,750 in college debt. By comparison, 25-to-34-year-olds owe $33,570.47 on average.

Why is it so hard to pay off student loans?

Capitalized interest can make it challenging to make a dent in your total student loan balance. If you're wondering, why do student loans take so long to pay off? Capitalized interest may be the culprit.

How many people owe $10,000 in student loans?

As for how much money people owe, 15 million people owe $10,000 or less in federal student loans. Another 21 million people owe $10,001-$50,000 dollars, and about 9 million people owe more than $50,000. President Biden has previously floated the idea of canceling up to $10,000 in federal student debt.

What is the average student debt in the US?

The average federal student loan debt is $37,338 per borrower. Private student loan debt averages $54,921 per borrower. The average student borrows over $30,000 to pursue a bachelor's degree. A total of 45.3 million borrowers have student loan debt; 92% of them have federal loan debt.

Which group of student loan borrowers has the highest delinquency rate?

Top student loan default and delinquency statistics

They attend for-profit colleges – borrowers who attend for-profit schools are 67% more likely to default on their student loans than borrowers from 4-year public colleges.

Which age group has the lowest percentage of student loan debt?

Adults 60 and over owe less than 2% of the national student loan debt. 2.8 million or 5.3% of adults aged 60 years and older have a student loan debt balance. 18- to 29-year-olds owe 34% of student loan debt. 14.9 million or 27% of adults under 30 years old have student loan debt.

What percentage of Millennials have student loan debt?

1/3rd of all Millennials carry a student loan. 40% of those Millennials who start college do not finish their degree within six years. 45% of Baby Boomers bought their first home between the age of 25 and 34, compared to 37% of Millennials.

Are student loans forgiven at age 70?

Unlike our siblings in England, Ireland, and Scotland, the US Department of Education doesn't write off student loans when borrowers turn 65 years of age. Unfortunately, American lawmakers haven't provided student loan borrowers with age-based forgiveness.

How many student loan borrowers are over 50?

The most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that roughly 9 million adults age 50 and older are still actively paying off federal student loan debt — almost 20 percent of all federal student loan borrowers.

Can you collect Social Security if you have student loan debt?

Neither federal nor private student loans can stop you from getting Social Security payments. But falling behind on your federal student loan debt puts you at risk of having some of your Social Security and tax refund taken under the Treasury Offset Program.

What generation is currently in the most debt?

According to data on 78.2 million Credit Karma members, members of Generation X (ages 43 to 58) carry the highest average total debt — $61,036.

Which generation is most in debt?

Here's how to get those balances down.

What percent of Baby Boomers are white?

As of 2015, the population 55-years-old and older, which includes most Baby Boomers, is “whiter” than the country as a whole (75 percent vs. 61.6 percent) and, among them, blacks are the largest racial minority.

What is the average student loan debt for a doctor?

Between medical school and undergraduate study, physicians must pay for 8 years of postsecondary education before they can work as doctors. Medical school graduates owe a median average of $200,000 to $215,000 in total educational debt, premedical debt included.

What is the average student loan debt for a masters degree?

The average graduate student loan debt balance is $76,620 among federal borrowers. The average undergraduate student loan debt balance is $37,337. The average debt among master's degree holders is $83,651. The average debt among PhD holders is $125,276.

What is too much student loan debt?

What is considered a lot of student loan debt? A lot of student loan debt is more than you can afford to repay after graduation. For many this means having more than $70,000 – $100,000 of total student debt.