Report Highlights. The average student borrower takes 20 years to pay off their student loan debt.
- Some professional graduates take over 45 years to repay student loans.
- 21% of borrowers see their total student loan debt balance increase in the first 5 years of their loan.
- The average medical school graduate’s salary is not sufficient to make their student loan payments.
Related reports include Student Loan Debt Statistics | Average Student Loan Debt | Student Loan Debt by State | Average Student Loan Interest Rate | Student Loan Refinancing
| Monthly Payment |
Ultimate Cost |
Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|
| $461‡ | $42,863 | 7 yrs, 9 mos |
| $372 | $44,595 | 10 yrs, 0 mos |
| $345◊ | $45,341 | 10 yrs, 11 mos |
†The average debt is based on the federal student loan debt portfolio and does not necessarily reflect the true average debt for 2022 undergraduates.
‡ 10% of the typical starting gross income value for recent graduates (Bachelor’s).
◊10% of the typical starting net income value for recent graduates (Bachelor’s).
Average Student Loan Repayment Timelines
The amount of time it takes for an individual to repay their student loan debt depends on the initial amount borrowed, the loan’s interest rate, and repayment habits, among other factors.
- 10 years is the ideal timeline for paying off student loan debt according to financial experts and the U.S. Department of Education (ED).
- In practice, it takes borrowers closer to 20 years to pay off their student loans.
- 21.1 years was the average length of repayment in a 2013 study of 61,000 respondents.*
- 45% of student loan borrowers decrease their balance in the first five years of repayment.
- 21% of student loan borrowers increase their balance in that same period.
- The average medical school graduate’s salary is not sufficient to make their student loan payments.
*More recent reports claim shorter timelines (~18.5 years), but this comes from a poll of 2,200 borrowers between the ages of 26 to 45.
Class of 2021 Student Loan Repayment Timelines
Because student loan interest rates are at historic lows, current students may reasonably expect to pay off their student loan debts within the recommended 10-year timeline.
- 3.73% is the 2021-2022 interest rate for Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized federal student loans to undergraduate borrowers.
- 2.75% is the 2020-2021 interest rate for Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized federal student loans.
- 10% of income should go toward paying off debts according to federal guidelines.
- 36% of income is the maximum amount that should go toward paying off debt.
- $42,500 is the low-end starting salary for a new graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
- $73,800 is the high-end salary.
- $64,900 is the average annual salary for a recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
- $52,000 is the median salary for new graduates with bachelor’s degrees.
- 4 to 12+ years is the projected student loan debt repayment period for bachelor’s degree holders who graduate in 2021.
| Average Debt | Ultimate Cost | Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|
| $17,800 | $18,800 | 4 yrs, 1 mos |
| $28,300 | $31,000 | 6 yrs, 9 mos |
| $30,100 | $33,200 | 7 yrs, 3 mos |
Associate’s Degree Debt Repayment
Student borrowers with associate’s degrees are significantly less likely to take on student loan debt if they attend public institutions. Private school attendees are actually more likely than their bachelor’s degree-seeking peers to use student loans to pay for school.
- Just 41% of Associate’s degree holders who graduated from public institutions use student loans to pay for school.
- 84% of attendees of private, nonprofit schools take on student loan debt.
- 88% of attendees of private, for-profit schools take on student loan debt.
- $46,100 is the average annual salary for a recently graduated associate’s degree holder.
- 4 to 7+ years is the projected student loan debt repayment period for associate’s degree holders who graduate in 2021.
| Monthly Payment |
Average Debt |
Ultimate Cost |
Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| $354 | $29,500 | $32,800 | 7 yrs, 9 mos |
| $354 | $35,000 | $39,700 | 9 yrs, 4 mos |
| $354 | $45,300 | $53,700 | 12 yrs, 8 mos |
| $541 | $29,500 | $31,500 | 4 yrs, 10 mos |
| $541 | $35,000 | $37,900 | 5 yrs, 10 mos |
| $541 | $45,300 | $50,400 | 7 yrs, 9 mos |
| $615 | $29,500 | $31,300 | 4 yrs, 3 mos |
| $615 | $35,000 | $37,500 | 5 yrs, 1 mos |
| $615 | $45,300 | $49,700 | 6 yrs, 9 mos |
Graduate Student Loan Debt Repayment Timelines
Graduate and professional students, on average, borrow more for school than undergraduate students. Their income rates tend to be higher, as well.
- 4.3% is the interest rate for Direct Unsubsidized federal student loans to graduate or professional borrowers.
- 5.3% is the interest rate for Direct PLUS loans, which go to graduate or professional borrowers as well as parents of undergraduates borrowing on their behalf.
- $58,300 is the average student debt for a borrower who graduated from a public institution with a Master’s degree.
- $96,700 is the average debt for master’s degree holders who attended a private, for-profit institution.
- $101,200-$175,600 is the range of average debt for doctoral degree holders.
- $243,300 is the average debt for professional degree holders who attended private, nonprofit institutions.
- $77,800 is the average salary for a master’s degree holder.
- $96,800 and $97,900 are the average respective salaries for people with professional and doctoral degrees.
| APR % | Current Debt |
Ultimate Cost |
Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.3% | $58,300 | $70,000 | 8 yrs, 9 mo |
| 4.3% | $77,000 | $99,500 | 12 yrs, 5 mos |
| 4.3% | $96,700 | $136,500 | 17 yrs, 0 mos |
| 5.3% | $58,300 | $73,700 | 9 yrs, 2 mos |
| 5.3% | $77,000 | $107,800 | 13 yrs, 5 mos |
| 5.3% | $96,700 | $154,400 | 19 yrs, 3 mos |
| APR % | Current Debt |
Ultimate Cost |
Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.3% | $98,700 | $128,700 | 12 yrs, 11 mos |
| 4.3% | $100,700 | $132,200 | 13 yrs, 3 mos |
| 4.3% | $171,400 | $311,300 | 31 yrs, 2 mos |
| 5.3% | $98,700 | $140,000 | 14 yrs, 0 mos |
| 5.3% | $100,700 | $144,300 | 14 yrs, 5 mos |
| 5.3% | $171,400 | $452,600 | 45 yrs, 3 mos |
Postgraduate Student Loan Debt Repayment Timelines
When indebted students return to school, they may not be required to make payments on any outstanding student loan debts. This does not mean, however, that these debts stop collecting interest. Students seeking postgraduate work may take out additional loans on top of existing student loan debt.
| APR % | Current Debt |
Ultimate Cost |
Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.3% | $152,600 | $246,500 | 24 yrs, 4 mos 292 |
| 4.3% | $237,400 | NA** | NA |
| 4.3% | $203,600 | $472,700 | 46 yrs, 9 mos 561 |
| 5.3% | $152,600 | $307,400 | 30 yrs, 5 mos 365 |
| 5.3% | $237,400 | NA | NA |
| 5.3% | $203,600 | NA | NA |
| Monthly Payment |
% of Income |
APR % | Current Debt |
Ultimate Cost |
Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,685 | 20% | 4.3% | $237,400 | $331,100 | 16 yrs, 5 mos |
| $2,528 | 30% | $237,400 | $289,900 | 9 yrs, 7 mos | |
| $1,685 | 20% | 5.3% | $203,600 | $291,700 | 14 yrs, 5 mos |
**The monthly payment does not cover the loan’s principal interest, rendering repayment impossible.
| Salary | Monthly Payment |
% of Income |
Total Cost |
Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $63,200 | $527 | 10% | NA | NA |
| $63,200 | $1053 | 20% | $508,400 | 40 yrs, 3 mos |
| $63,200 | $1,580 | 30% | $350,700 | 18 yrs, 6 mos |
| $174,000 | $1,450 | 10% | $368,500 | 21 yrs, 2 mos |
| $400,000 | $3,330 | 10% | $280,300 | 7 yrs, 0 mos |
| Salary | Monthly Payment |
% of Income |
Total Cost |
Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $63,200 | $527 | 10% | NA | NA |
| $1053 | 20% | NA | NA | |
| $1580 | 30% | $403,400 | 21 yrs, 3 mos | |
| $174,000 | $1,450 | 10% | $438,100 | 25 yrs, 2 mos |
| $400,000 | $3,330 | 10% | $291,900 | 7 yrs, 4 mos |
Repayment of Medical and Law School Debt Timelines
The average law school debt is more than four times higher than the average undergraduate student debt. Medical degrees offer a better chance of qualifying for student loan forgiveness if the indebted graduate meets the set of rigid standards to apply.
- Top-earning doctors can have their student loans paid off in a minimum of 7 years.
- First-year residents do not earn enough to pay their student loan’s principal interest, making repayment impossible.
- $241,600 is the average student loan debt for a medical school graduate.
- $63,200 is a first-year resident’s annual salary.
- $174,000 is a general physician’s salary.
- $400,000 is an anesthesiologist’s salary.
- $160,000 is the average student loan debt for a law school graduate.
- $55,200 is the average starting salary for a law school graduate.
- $127,000 is an average salary for an experienced attorney.
- $188,000 is an average salary for a patent attorney.
Law School Graduate Average Student Loan Repayment (5.3%)
| Salary | Monthly Payment |
% of Income |
Total Cost | Years to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $55,200 | $460 | 10% | NA | NA |
| $55,200 | $920 | 20% | $251,000 | 22 yrs, 9 mos |
| $127,000 | $1,058 | 20% | $230,900 | 18 yrs, 2 mos |
| $188,000 | $1,567 | 20% | $164,800 | 10 yrs, 7 mos |
| Salary | Monthly Payment |
% of Income |
Total Cost | Years to Zero Debt |
| $55,200 | $920 | 20% | $305,100 | 27 yrs, 8 mos |
| $127,000 | $1,058 | 10% | $264,700 | 20 yrs, 10 mos |
| $188,000 | $1,567 | 10% | $213,200 | 11 yrs, 4 mos |
Private Student Loan Debt Repayment Timelines
Private student loans, for the most part, come from academic institutions as well as banks and credit unions. The total amount of private student loan debt is difficult to track because little of the related data is a matter of public record.
- 1.2% is the lowest known private student loan interest rate, available only to those with excellent credit.
- 3.82% is the low-end private student loan interest rate for most student borrowers.
- 14.5% is the high-end interest rate.
- Most students owe between $20,000 and $40,000 in student loan debt.
- 56% of indebted borrowers owe $20,000 or less in student loan
- 34.3% of indebted student borrowers owe $10,000 or less in federal student loans.
- 17.1% of borrowers owe less than $5,000.
- 21.4% of borrowers owe between $10,000 and $20,000 in student loans.
- 18.4% owe $40,000 to $100,000.
- 7.4% owe $100,000 or more.
- 2% owe in excess of $200,000.
| Monthly Payment |
APR % | Average Debt |
Total Cost | Time to Zero Debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $541 | 1.2% | $15,000 | $15,200 | 2 yrs, 4 mos |
| $541 | 1.2% | $30,000 | $30,900 | 4 yrs, 9 mos |
| $541 | 1.2% | $60,000 | $63,600 | 9 yrs, 10 mos |
| $541 | 3.82% | $15,000 | $15,700 | 2 yrs, 5 mos |
| $541 | 3.82% | $30,000 | $33,100 | 5 yrs, 1 mos |
| $541 | 3.82% | $60,000 | $74,100 | 11 yrs, 5 mos |
| $541 | 14.5% | $15,000 | $18,400 | 2 yrs, 10 mos |
| $541 | 14.5% | $30,000 | $49,900 | 7 yrs, 8 mos |
| $541 | 14.5% | $60,000 | NA | NA |
| $1,082 | 14.5% | $60,000 | $99,900 | 7 yrs, 8 mos |
Sources
- PEW Research Center, Student Loan System Presents Repayment Challenges
- U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), Consumer Credit – G.19
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Learn more, Earn More: Education Leads to Higher Wages, Lower Unemployment
- U.S. Department of Education (ED) Office of Federal Student Aid (OFSA), Federal Student Loan Portfolio
- ED OFSA, The Standard Repayment Plan is the Basic Repayment Plan for Loans from the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program and Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program
- National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Trends in Student Loan Debt for Graduate School Completers
- NCES, The Condition of Education: Loans for Undergraduate Students
- CNBC, College Grads Expect to Earn $60,000 in Their First Job—Here’s How Much They Actually Make
- National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Class of 2018’s Preliminary Salary Shows Slight Drop
- NACE, Graduate Outcomes: Summer 2021 Salary Survey
- BLS, Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator
- U.S. Department of Justice, Entry-Level and Experience Attorneys
- National Library of Medicine, Graduate Medical Education Funding Mechanisms, Challenges, and Solutions: A Narrative Review
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, Graduate Medical Education: Trends in Training and Student Debt
- Current Student Loan Interest Rates and How They Work
- Forbes, Student Loan Debt Statistics in 2020: A Record $1.6 Trillion
- CNBC, Resources: This is the average age when people finally pay off their student loans for good
- One Wisconsin Now, Twenty to Life: Higher Education Turning Into Multi-Decade Debt Sentence