More students are taking out loans to help pay for college, and average debt levels are on the rise, according to a report released today by the Pew Research Center. The report is based on data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, which has already been analyzed by the College Board and Education Sector, among others.
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3 Responses to Student-Loan Debt Continues to Rise, Says Another Report on Borrowing
11132507 - November 23, 2010 at 5:30 pm
And this just in…the sun rose in the East this morning, and experts are saying that they anticipate this will happen again tomorrow. I hope the Pew Research folks didn’t spend too much in the way of resources reaching this conclusion.
cragie - November 23, 2010 at 10:44 pm
If they are just looking across 2000, 2004 and 2008, though, things actually do not seem to be “on the rise.” The big increase seems to be during the years right after the introduction of the unsubsidized Stafford loan in the 1990s.
ljbohman - November 24, 2010 at 9:14 am
The report points to an increase in the amount of borrowing, “the average debt for bachelor’s degree recipients increased 36%, from $17,075 in 1996 to $23,287 in 2008″. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Calculator, the CPI went up slightly over 37%. So in inflation adjusted dollars the average debt load actually decreased a bit.