Who suffers the most from student debt?
Asked by: Terry Buckridge MD | Last update: October 28, 2025Score: 4.6/5 (39 votes)
Student Loan Debt by Race or Ethnicity On average, Black or African American student borrowers owe $3,800 more than white or Caucasian borrowers. Four years after graduation, 48% of Black student borrowers and 17% of White student borrowers owe more than they initially borrowed.
Who does student loan debt affect the most?
Students at for-profit schools and Black borrowers have the highest federal student loan default rates. Primarily due to higher average debt levels as well as lower earning and employment outcomes, the default rate is highest for borrowers who attended for-profit colleges compared to non-profit and public schools.
Who owes the majority of student debt?
Student debt by age
Perhaps unsurprisingly, most people with student debt — about two-thirds of them — are between the ages of 25 and 50. This group also owes the most, federal statistics show. That said, the fastest growing group of borrowers in the past several years has actually been older adults.
What career has the most student debt?
- Law Degree. $160,000 upon graduating. ...
- Medical Degree. $243,483 upon graduating. ...
- Dental School. $296,500 upon graduating. ...
- Nursing. Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN): $23,302. ...
- Business Administration. $41,000 to $170,000 for MBA students. ...
- Architecture. $40,000 in debt. ...
- Veterinary Medicine. ...
- Pharmacy.
Which racial group has the highest percentage of graduates with student loan debt over $60,000?
Black women are the most likely to graduate with student debt (95.9 percent), followed closely by Black men (94.6 percent), and Black women graduate with the highest average debt among student loan borrowers ($78,500).
Millions have had student loans canceled under Biden — despite the collapse of his forgiveness plan
What race has the most student loan debt?
- White men. 15.7%
- White women. 19.9%
- Black men. 32.1%
- Black women. 43.3%
- Hispanic men. 18.9%
- Hispanic women. 24.1%
- Other race or multi-racial, men. 18.1%
- Other race or multi-racial, women. 16%
Which race is most in debt?
Approximately three-quarters of Black- and White-headed families have debt, but the median debt-to-asset ratio is 50% higher among Black than White families (Copeland, 2020), with Black borrowers less likely to fully repay loans (Brevoort et al., 2021).
Who is the billionaire that paid off student debt?
Billionaire Robert F. Smith pledged to pay off student loans for every member of Morehouse College's graduating class. The Ivy League-educated business leader made his fortune investing in software firms and other tech companies.
Which gender has the most student loan debt?
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) estimates that women hold nearly 67% of all U.S. student loan debt, or approximately $929 billion.
What occupation has the most debt?
- Oral Surgeon. Even with a relatively high salary, oral surgeons typically graduate with a large student loan burden. ...
- Orthodontist. ...
- Endodontist. ...
- Dentist. ...
- Radiologist. ...
- Obstetrician-Gynecologist. ...
- Anesthesiologist. ...
- Physician.
Do rich kids take out student loans?
Whether your family is rich, poor, or somewhere in between, you can take advantage of student loans provided by the US government. These loans (known as Federal Loans, Direct Loans or Stafford Loans) offer lower rates and more flexible payback options than you can find from almost any other source.
What race receives the most financial aid?
Higher percentages of Black (88 percent) and American Indian/Alaska Native (87 percent) students received grants than students who were of Two or more races (79 percent), White (74 percent), and Asian (66 percent).
Why is it so hard to pay off student loans?
If your monthly payment does not cover the accrued interest, your loan balance will go up, even though you're making payments. Unpaid interest will also capitalize each year until your total balance is 10% higher than the original balance. This means you will pay interest on your interest.
Is 70k a lot of student 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 in total student debt.
What percentage of people regret student loans?
According to a recent Forbes Advisor and Talker Research survey of 2,000 adults, one in three respondents said they regret using student loans to finance their education and would not choose that route again if given the opportunity.
Is it a parent's responsibility to pay back their children's student loans?
When the time comes to start making payments, only the student is obligated to repay these loans — not the parents. In fact, there's no co-signer. If the student defaults on a federal student loan, it will affect the student's credit and won't be reported on the parent's credit history.
What race holds the most student debt?
Who has the most student loan debt by race? Black adults are more likely to have student loan debt than those in other racial or ethnic groups. They are more likely than white adults to hold student debt at every level of educational attainment.
What gender holds the most debt?
- Men have 2% more credit card debt than women.
- Men have 20% more personal loan debt than women.
- Men have 16.3% more auto loan debt than women.
- Men have 9.7% more mortgage debt than women.
- Women have 2.7% more student loan debt than men.
Who owes the most student debt?
Black women owe a disproportionate amount of student debt. They hold 43% more undergraduate debt and nearly 99% more graduate school debt than their white woman counterparts 12 months after graduation, according to an April 2022 study by the nonprofit organization The Education Trust.
Who has the highest student debt in the world?
The #1 most expensive place to go to college in the world
Student debt is making headlines in the UK as student debt balloons. However, their repayment structure looks quite different from the US's. University graduates begin loan repayment once they earn over the income threshold amount for their repayment plan.
Which black millionaire pays tuition?
When billionaire Robert Smith ended his 2019 Morehouse College commencement speech by vowing to pay off student debt for the entire graduating class, cheers of “MVP, MVP, MVP!” rose from students and faculty on the Atlanta campus. What the audience didn't know was that Smith was harboring a financial secret.
Is there a billionaire that didn t go to college?
First of all, regarding billionaires who did not complete college, this group is actually not small. Many well-known billionaires, such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Richard Branson, chose to give up their studies in pursuit of their entrepreneurial dreams, and eventually achieved great success.
What is the brokest race?
Both Native Americans and Black Americans have the highest poverty rates, with about one in five individuals from these groups living below the poverty line.
How many people have $50,000 in credit card debt?
Running up $50,000 in credit card debt is not impossible. About two million Americans do it every year. Paying off that bill?
Who has the most trouble paying off student loans?
Black college students generally take on more debt than white students, and they are more likely to struggle with loan repayment after graduating, in part because they typically have lower levels of family wealth.