Average Student Loan Debt

Report Highlights. The total average student loan debt (including private loan debt) may be as high as $40,681.

• The average federal student loan debt is $37,853 per borrower.
• Outstanding private student loan debt totals $128.8 billion.
• The average student borrows over $30,000 to pursue a bachelor’s degree.
• A total of 42.8 million borrowers have federal student loan debt.
• It may take borrowers close to 20 years to pay off their student loans.

Related reports include Total Student Loan Debt | Student Loan Debt by State | Student Loan Debt by Year | Student Loan Refinancing

Average Student Loan Debt

The average student loan debt grew, as the total debt grew and indebted borrower numbers stayed roughly the same.

• Since the beginning of 2023, national student loan debt declined 1.22%. 
• During that same period, the total private student loan debt increased by 11.1%.
• Since the beginning of 2023, the total federal student loan debt decreased by 1.60% and average federal student loan debt decreased 0.68%.
• The average monthly payment among student loan holders is between $200 and $299. 
• University graduates owe an average of $28,244 a year after they leave school. 
• The average private nonprofit university student borrows $33,910 to complete a bachelor’s degree.
• For-profit students borrow an average $40,970. 
• Postsecondary students as a whole, including those earning certificates and associate’s degrees, borrow on average $25,670 to complete their degree.

Average Student Loan Debt by State

In 2024, all states had an increase in their average student loan debt for borrowers.

• In 2024, South Dakota saw the greatest increase in the average federal student loan debt per borrower, an additional $1,381 each.
• Hawaii’s debt increase was the state with the second-largest increase with an additional $1,200 per borrower.
• The average loan debt of borrowers in other locations, which includes anyone outside the U.S. states and territories, increased by $1,259 each.
• Wyoming’s student loan borrowers had the smallest increase in their average debt by $218 each, the smallest nationwide increase.

Find more detailed research in our report on the Average Student Loan Debt by State.

Average Student Loan Debt by Year

• The average federal student loan debt has doubled since 2007.
• The average overall federal student debt has increased by 108% or 6.0% each year since 2007. 
• The average Stafford Loan balance increased 28%, while the average Grad PLUS loan balance increased 45% since 2014. 
• The average federal student loan debt increased by 2.1% from 2023 to 2024.

Find more detailed research in our report on the Average Student Loan Debt by Year.

Average Student Loan Debt by Age

• Those aged between 50 to 61 have the highest average federal student loan debt at $45,159. 
• 6.10% of federal student loan debt belongs to adults under the age of 25. 
• Adults aged 25 to 34 years old hold 30.1% of the federal student loan debt; 39.1% belongs to 35- to 49-year-olds. 
• 24.6% of federal student loan debt is from borrowers aged 50 years and older. 
• 61- to 65-year-olds who started college at a traditional age of 18 had the highest starting student loan interest rates.

Find more detailed research in our report on Student Loan Debt by Age.

Average Student Loan Debt by Race or Ethnicity

Note: This report uses categories and terminology that conform to the data source material.

• Among Black women, the average student loan debt balance grows 13% over 12 years.
• Among black men, the average debt balance grows 11% over 12 years. 
• The average federal student loan debt among Black and African American borrowers upon graduation with a bachelor’s is $33,960 and is the highest among all racial groups.
• The average white student borrower upon graduation with a bachelor’s owes $30,720. 
• Asian college graduates are the fastest to repay their student loan debt.

Find more detailed research in our report on Student Loan Debt by Race

Average Student Loan Debt by Sex or Gender

Note: Submissions from students who identify as transgender or select “a different gender identity” on surveys are too few in number to derive any meaningful data. Some sources use the terms “sex” and “gender” interchangeably.

• 64% of student loan debt belongs to women; Black women have the highest average amount of debt.
• In surveys, indebted federal student loan borrowers who selected multiple genders had borrowed a higher amount than met but lower amount than women. 
• A higher percentage of women borrow federal student loans than men, borrow higher amounts, and pay them back at a lower amount per month than men.
• Male borrowers owe less in graduate student debt than women, except in professional doctorate degrees.

Find more detailed research in our report on Student Loan Debt by Sex or Gender

Average Student Loan Debt by Educational Attainment Level

• Student loan borrowers pursuing undergraduate postsecondary education owe an average of $25,670.  
• Borrowers who hold master’s degrees owe an average of $69,140 each. 
• The average law school debt is approximately $140,000. 
• The average medical school debt is approximately $200,000.

See our report on Educational Attainment Statistics to find additional related data.

Average Student Loan Debt by Institution Type

• Students who used their federal loans to attend public institutions owe an average of $28,631. 
• The average student who attended a private, nonprofit institution owes $42,095. 
• Students who attended proprietary or for-profit private institutions owe an average of $22,158. 
• Students of foreign institutions owe an average of $112,500. 
• A little over 8.9 million borrowers who attended other types of institutions owe an average of $4,191 each in student loan debt.

Average Federal Loan Debt

Some borrowers have multiple federal loans. Presumably, many federal loan holders also have private student loan debt.

• 42% of students who borrow money to attend school are still paying off loans 20 years later. 
• The average Stafford loan holder owes $25,583. 
• Subsidized Stafford loans carry an average balance of $9,781. 
• Unsubsidized Stafford loans have an average balance of $19,378. 
• The average Grad PLUS loan has an outstanding balance of $59,722. 
• Parent PLUS loans average $30,500. 
• Consolidated federal loans have an average remaining balance of $52,495. 
• Though discontinued in 2017, a number of Perkins loans carry an outstanding balance, averaging $3,091 per loan. 
• 53% of federal borrowers owe less than $20,000 in student loan debt. 
• 8% of borrowers owe more than $100,000.
• The federal government forgives student loans at a rate of $101 per indebted student borrower.

Sources

1. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2019 – May 2020
2. Enterval Analytics, Private Student Loan Report
3. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid, Federal Student Loan Portfolio
4. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), Consumer Credit – G.19
5. National Center for Education Statistics, Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B) 
6. Demos, Debt to Society: The Case for Bold, Equitable Student Loan Cancellation and Reform 
7. American Association of University of Women, Deeper in Debt NSA Reports
8. NCES, Digest of Education Statistics
9. Intelligent, 1 in 10 Still Carry College Debt 20 Years Later
10. Saving for College, Historical Federal Student Loan Interest Rates and Fees 
11. One Wisconsin Now, Twenty to Life: Higher Education Turning Into Multi-Decade Debt Sentence