The value of outstanding student loans in the United States has ballooned since the first quarter of 2006. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, American students owed over 1.77 trillion U.S. dollars in student loans. In the first quarter of 2006, this figure stood at 480.9 billion U.S. dollars.

Statistics on student debt, including the average debt at graduation, the percentage of graduates who owed large debt at graduation and the percentage of graduates with debt who had paid it off at the time of the interview, are presented by the province of study and the level of study. Estimates are available at five-year intervals.

In 2024, the average student loan debt of graduates of Northwestern University, ranked as the 6th best college in the United States, amounted to 36,425 U.S. dollars. For students at Princeton University, classified as the best U.S. college in that year, they left college with student loan debt totaling 17,494 U.S. dollars on average.

Presents statistics on student loan borrower status and repayments by repayment cohort and tax year, produced by the Student Loans Company

Source agency: Business, Innovation and Skills

Designation: Official Statistics not designated as National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Student loan repayments

In 2024, the generation Z in the United States had an average of roughly 22,950 U.S. dollars in student loan debt. By contrast, Generation X had the highest student loan debt, amounting to approximately 44,240 U.S. dollars. The value of outstanding student loans has been consistently rising over the past few decades.

Graph and download economic data for Student Loans Owned and Securitized (SLOAS) from Q1 2006 to Q4 2024 about student, securitized, owned, loans, and USA.

As of Q4 2024, Americans aged 50 to 61 years had the highest average student loan debt balance among all age groups, averaging 46,790.32 U.S. dollars of student debt per borrower. In comparison, Americans who were 24 years and younger had an average student debt balance of 14,161.76 U.S. dollars.

Graph and download economic data for Federal Government; Consumer Credit, Student Loans; Asset, Level (FGCCSAQ027S) from Q4 1945 to Q4 2024 about student, IMA, consumer credit, federal, assets, loans, government, consumer, and USA.

For those graduating college in the United States in 2020, five-figure debt was the norm across all states. Students in New Hampshire had the highest debt levels in the country, at 39,928 U.S. dollars on average. The lowest average amount of debt that students had was in the state of Utah at 18,344 U.S. dollars.

In the academic year 2022/23, the average student loan debt for a four-year bachelor's degree from a public college in the United States was 29,300 U.S. dollars. In comparison, student loan debt from a private for-profit college averaged almost 34,000 U.S. dollars.

This statistic shows the percentage of U.S. Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with student loan debt in late 2019/early 2020, by the amount of the debt. During the survey, 26 percent of respondents reported having between 20,001 U.S. dollars and 50,000 U.S. dollars in student loan debt.

In April 2024, Americans were asked if they think they will ever fully pay off their student loan debt. According to the survey, almost 20 percent of those who owed money toward student loans stated that they would definitely not be able to fully pay their loans off.

Statistics on postsecondary graduates who owed money for their education to government-sponsored student loans at graduation, including the average debt at graduation, the percentage of graduates who owed large debt at graduation and the percentage of debt paid off at the time of the interview, are presented by the province of study and the level of study. Estimates are available at five-year intervals.

In the United States, taking out student loans to attend higher education has become a controversial course of action. In 2022, 36 percent of adults perceived taking out student loans in order to afford higher education in the United States as a financial risk. In contrast, 14 percent of adults said it was a good long-term investment.

Biden’s pause on payments

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration allowed for a pause on student loan payments which was extended to June 2023. It has since become clear that many adults in the U.S. will struggle to resume student loan payments, with 30 percent of U.S. adults reporting that they probably would not be able to afford to make payments towards their student loans once the pause expires. In addition, 60 percent of adults in the U.S. said that resuming payments towards their student loans would have a major impact on their financial security. Although President Biden has advocated for a student loan forgiveness plan to ease the transition into resuming student loan payments by first forgiving up to 20,000 U.S. dollars in student debt for many Americans, this plan came under criticism by conservative groups who have attacked the implementation of the policy in courts. In 2022, only a quarter of Republicans believed that student loan debt was a very serious problem, compared to over half of Democrats.

Affordability of higher education in America

Although many in the U.S. perceive the value of attending higher education as a pathway to a successful career, only nine percent of surveyed Americans believed that everyone in the U.S. had access to a quality, affordable education after high school if they wanted it. 36 percent of Americans who said that they definitely could not afford to resume student loan payments reported owing 75,000 to 100,000 U.S. dollars, which can amount to the cost of just one semester of college in the United States. Despite declining enrollment numbers in higher education institutions, colleges fees remain costly and younger Americans have started to question whether taking out student loans is worth the risk. U.S. adults aged 18 to 44 years old as well as those who earned under 50,000 U.S. dollars were both found less likely to believe that taking out student loans to attend higher education was worth it.

This table gives an overview of expenditure on regular education within the Netherlands. The government finances schools, colleges and universities. It pays for research which is done by universities on its behalf. Furthermore it provides student grants and loans, allowances for school costs, provisions for students with a disability and child care allowances as well as subsidies to companies and non-profit organisations. The government reclaims unjustified payments for student grants and loans and allowances for school costs. It also receives interest and repayments on student loans as well as EU subsidies for education. Parents and/or students have to pay tuition fees for schools, colleges and universities, parent contributions and contributions for school activities. They also have to purchase books and materials, pay for transport from home to school and back for students who are not eligible for subsidised transport, pay for private tutoring, pay interest and repayments on student loans, and repay wrongfully received student grants, loans and allowances for school costs. Parents and/or students receive child care allowances, provisions for students with a disability and an allowance for school costs as well as student grants and loans and scholarships of companies. Companies and non-profit organisations incur costs for supervising trainees and apprentices who combine learning with work experience. They also contribute to the cost of work related education of their employees and spend money on research that is outsourced to colleges for higher professional education and universities. Furthermore they contribute to the childcare allowances given to households and provide scholarships to students. Companies receive subsidies and tax benefits for the creation of apprenticeship places and trainee placements and for providing transport for pupils. Organisations abroad contract universities in the Netherlands to undertake research for them. The European Union provides funds and subsidies for education to schools, colleges and universities as well as to the Dutch government. Foreign governments contribute to international schools in the Netherlands that operate under their nationality. The table also contains various indicators used nationally and internationally to compare expenditure on education and place it in a broader context. The indicators are compounded on the basis of definitions of Statistics Netherlands and/or the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development). All figures presented have been calculated according to the standardised definitions of the OECD. In this table tertiary education includes research and development, except for the indicator Expenditure on education institutions per student, excluding R&D. The statistic on Education spending is compiled on a cash basis. This means that the education expenditure and revenues are allocated to the year in which they are paid out or received. However, the activity or transaction associated with the payment or receipt can take place in a different year. Statistics Netherlands published the revised National Accounts in June 2024. Among other things, GDP and total government expenditures have been adjusted upwards as a result of the revision. Data available from: 1995 Status of the figures: The figures from 1995 to 2022 are final. The 2023 figures are provisional. Changes as of 31 December 2024: The final figures of 2021 and 2022 and the provisional figures of 2023 have been added. As a result of the revision of the National Accounts, among other things, GDP and total government expenditures have been adjusted upwards. The indicators in this table that are expressed as a percentage of GDP and total government expenditure have been updated for the entire time series from 1995 on the basis of the revised figures. When will new figures be published? The final figures for 2023 and the provisional figures for 2024 will be published in December 2025. More information on the revision policy of National Accounts can be found under 'relevant articles' under paragraph 3.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

Next Steps (also known as the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE1)) is a major longitudinal cohort study following a nationally representative group of around 16,000 who were in Year 9 attending state and independent schools in England in 2004, a cohort born in 1989-90.

The first seven sweeps of the study were conducted annually (2004-2010) when the study was funded and managed by the Department for Education (DfE). The study mainly focused on the educational and early labour market experiences of young people.

In 2015 Next Steps was restarted, under the management of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) at the UCL Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. The Next Steps Age 25 survey was aimed at increasing the understanding of the lives of young adults growing up today and the transitions out of education and into early adult life.

The Next Steps Age 32 Survey took place between April 2022 and September 2023 and is the ninth sweep of the study. The Age 32 Survey aimed to provide data for research and policy on the lives of this generation of adults in their early 30s. This sweep also collected information on many wider aspects of cohort members' lives including health and wellbeing, politics and social participation, identity and attitudes as well as capturing personality, resilience, working memory and financial literacy.

Next Steps survey data is also linked to the National Pupil Database (NPD), the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), the Individualised Learner Records (ILR) and the Student Loans Company (SLC).

There are now two separate studies that began under the LSYPE programme. The second study, Our Future (LSYPE2) (available at the UK Data Service under GN 2000110), began in 2013 and will track a sample of over 13,000 young people annually from ages 13/14 through to age 20.

Further information about Next Steps may be found on the CLS website.

Secure Access datasets:

Secure Access versions of Next Steps have more restrictive access conditions than Safeguarded versions available under the standard End User Licence (see 'Access' section).

Secure Access versions of the Next Steps include:

• sensitive variables from the questionnaire data for Sweeps 1-9. These are available under Secure Access SN 8656.
  
• National Pupil Database (NPD) linked data at Key Stages 2, 3, 4 and 5, England. These are available under SN 7104.
• Linked Individualised Learner Records learner and learning aims datasets for academic years 2005 to 2014, England. These are available under SN 8577.
  
• detailed geographic indicators for Sweep 1 and Sweep 8 (2001 Census Boundaries) - available under SN 8189 and geographic indicators for Sweep 8 (2011 Census Boundaries) - available under SN 8190. The Sweep 1 geography file was previously held under SN 7104.
• Linked Health Administrative Datasets (Hospital Episode Statistics) for years 1998-2017 held under SN 8681.
• Linked Student Loans Company Records for years 2007-2021 held under SN 8848.

When researchers are approved/accredited to access a Secure Access version of Next Steps, the Safeguarded (EUL) version of the study - Next Steps: Sweeps 1-9, 2004-2023 (SN 5545) - will be automatically provided alongside.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) is a non-profit making government-owned organisation that administers loans and grants to students in colleges and universities in the UK. The Next Steps: Linked Administrative Datasets (Student Loans Company Records), 2007 - 2021: Secure Access includes data on higher education loans for those Next Steps participant who provided consent to SLC linkage in the age 25 sweep. The matched SLC data contains information about participant's applications for student finance, payment transactions posted to participant's accounts, repayment details and overseas assessment details.

The study includes four datasets:

Applicant: SLC data on cohort member’s application for student finance between academic years 2007 and 2020

Payments: SLC data on payment transactions made to cohort member between financial years 2007 and 2021.

Repayments: SLC data on cohort member’s repayment transactions between financial years 2009 and 2021.

Overseas: SLC data on overseas assessment for cohort member between 2007 and 2020

Data on the average amount of OSAP debt owed by students. The data is specific to those who attended programs with typical durations.

Data is for:

• 4-year undergraduate university students
• 2-year college diploma students
• 1-year private career college students

The data fields are:

• academic year of completion
• postsecondary sector (university, publicly-assisted college, or private career college)
• program duration (1 year, 2 years or 4 years)
• average repayable debt after loan forgiveness applied through the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant

Debt is in nominal dollars with no adjustment for inflation.

*[OSAP]: Ontario Student Assistance Program

In 2024, students graduating from English universities will have incurred an average of 48,470 British pounds of student loan debt, compared with 37,360 pounds in Wales, 25,730 pounds in Northern Ireland, and around 16,680 pounds in Scotland.

Download the data that appears on the College Scorecard, as well as supporting data on student completion, debt and repayment, earnings, and more. Last updated on 4-19-2023.