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Subscribe to RSSForty percent of U.S. households headed by someone younger than age 35 owed student debt in 2010 – double the percentage from 20 years ago, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis that found a record one in five households hobbled by student debt.
“We know the total amount of student debt has been rising, but what this study does is help us get a handle on who owes it,” said Richard Fry, a researcher with the Pew Center.
Outstanding student loans have topped $1 trillion, and rising tuition costs have spurred colleges and students to call for reforms.
“It’s been a hard labor market for everyone, but particularly for 18- to 20-year-olds, who have not been able to find work or find work in their qualified field,” Fry said.
View the Pew Research Center's complete report (Pdf)
Households headed by someone younger than age 35 have by far the highest share of the debt among the age groups, Fry said. He said 70 percent of the total debt was owed by households headed by those under age 45.
Among households owing student debt, the average outstanding student loan balance edged upward to $26,682 in 2010 from $23,349 in 2007, data show.
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Fry said incidence of student debt increased in nearly every demographic and economic category since 2007, but households with incomes less than $21,000 were hardest hit.
“While households with higher incomes also had student debt, they were able to shed other debt obligations,” he said.
Other key findings:
- In 2010, nearly 90 percent of the debt was owed by households whose head had completed at least some college education and almost 70 percent was owed by households whose head had finished college.
- In 2009-10, 51 percent of full-time, first-time undergraduate students had a student loan; that was up 43.5 percent in 2006-2007.
- Most debtor households had less than $50,000 in outstanding student debt in 2010, but the share of households owing elevated amounts increased. For example, in 2007, 10 percent of student debtors owed more than $54,238. By 2010, 10 percent of student debtor households owed more than $61,894 (figures are adjusted for inflation).
The study released is based on the Survey of Consumer Finances, conducted every three years and sponsored by the Federal Reserve.
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The working folks once again set-up like bowling pins by the money lenders and the academic swindlers.
Listen up: You don't have to go into debt for school. Stop listening to your parents and teachers....don't go into debt. Work for a company that has tuition assistance! Find a scholarship and grant. Start a business! Don't go into debt for schooling. It's not worth it!
Great post Sally.
That's easier said then done, what if you have no choice?
Good luck a job before going to college though; much less one that would have that kind of benefit.
This got in here some how.
The really stupid, stupid part of this is that government paying for school on a need basis delivers a hefty return on investment. The federal Veterans Administration did at least two studies on the fiscal impact of the money spent on the GI Bill program for returning WW II vets. For each dollar spent; seven (7) dollars were realized in increased tax revenue due to increased income, increased purchasing power, increase economic "churn" and so forth. Hence, if we don't make it possible for all capable kids to get a better education not only will America become a third world country but our economy will suffer too.
You can not compare a vet putting his life on the line with a snot nose kid. If he wants a free education let him join the service or work for a company that offers tuition reimbursement. Not all kids or college material bound unless you are in sports.
Marco...
You completely missed Fred's point. And what else is a vet but a former snot nosed kid?
if people can't afford to pay their student loans - they shouldn't go to a university. I could not afford to go to a university - so don't ask me to pay someone's loan with my tax dollars.
Had you gone to college maybe you could have afforded to pay your loans.
Sally in Chicago, I was fortunate to have an employer who did offer some assistance. If I passed the course (which I had to prove) they reimbursed me $200. I was very lucky.
A large percentage of the debt is owed by those who could have made it through school with out taking a loan. Another example of conditioning Americans to borrow, borrow, borrow.
I guess Obama's student loan bill was not as shovel ready as he thought.
It was shovel ready for the libturds only.
Last time I looked young people of all political persuasions were in college.
Unemployment, under-employmnet under Obama is 15%!
Romney/Ryan-2012 and beyond!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get rid of the IPhone.... cut back on cable.... cut costs.... live within your means..... I did it 30 years ago and am doing it now while going back to school for a career change....
I heard this a while back from Rush..... believe it or not....
If you live like a lawyer while you are a student... you will live like a student when you are a lawyer.............
I took that to heart when I retired and went back to school for a Nursing Degree.... pinch pennies... live within my means...Afterall... there is little financial aid for a 50 year old tax paying since I was 15years white guy any more..... even student loans are limited if you have a prior degree.......
30 years ago. You old guys all have the same story about college costs. How much did a car cost 30 years ago? Apples and oranges.
I work at a university and the common joke between researchers is that all the PhD's can get better up-to-date knowledge from Wikipedia.
What boggles my mind is all these people buying in to this notion of: If you go to college and get a degree you will make so much more money. In this economy we all face be thankful for a $12 an hr job. I went to college years ago with the clear understanding that these LOANS have to be paid back. Nobody twisted my arm to take them. It was a conscious decision i made and if i failed to deliver payment on that debt then it is entirely my fault.
I worked two jobs and got, if lucky, 4 hours of sleep a day all the while going to school and years of paying back those loans. In my opinion it "Seems" there are some out there that think college is a RIGHT not a privilege to be able to go. When did so many think it's an entitlement or god given right to go to college or if you rack up debt" lets just forgive the unpaid debt for everybody". Don't blame the lenders for the decisions you made going in to a contract as you know what you are doing. Kinda like so many that try and buy a large home, boat and r.v. you can't afford in the first place.Then want to whine when you have to file bankruptcy cause you can't make the payments and say it's others fault for what happens to you.
What chaps my a## is these "Illegals" that get to attend college and get a free ride or assistance to go when so many law abiding American families struggle to pay bills and pay for their kids college. The whole system is broken anymore and our politicians that are suppose to protect our interests as Americans are traded for votes and back door lobby group deals.
people have been borrowing money for college for years. what's new is their not paying it all back now. they owe one trillion dollars to the us govt. that's your money and mine.....the problem stands in two places, the people who feel the need to go to a college they can't afford, and the over pricing that the colleges charge. no education should cost that much money, college professors are overpaid stuffed shirts that think that their words are worth the price of admission.
Banks know that the current and upcoming generations face futures of low-income jobs.
They won't be able to afford mortgages.
But oh, sign here, and they'll lend you money for college and you'll never be able to escape repayment!
Clever, no?
Kids: take a few years off and work to pay for school, or work during school, or get decent grades and get scholarships, or pick a career that doesn't require college where, with some motivation, you can have a comfortable life.
People used to do that.
And if you miss the manufacturing jobs we used to have that paid well, maybe you should start asking where they went and why, and who profited from that (hint: it wasn't the middle class!).
And perhaps vote accordingly, if you can bother to vote at all.
As both myself and wife are graduates of CSU, I wonder what is the true value of a secondary education at this point. In the 40's an eighth grade education enabled one with most skills required to take on the world. Now high school grads have trouble composing an complete sentence.
Have we dumbed-downed our children to the level of incompetence? And for what purpose?
History will be judge.
Are you really talking about the 40's?
I scanned the article but didn't find the info. Does this include debt to private, for-profit schools?
Well if they are going to school thats a good thing I just hope that they picked the correct occupation to enter into, something that will be needed in the future.
just started back to school myself, Renewable energy specialist. will be done in 3 years.
Scott - did you sign up for a private vocational school?
No its not private. Mid-State Technical College - Wisconsin-Degree: Associates in Applied Science
been scrimping but paying down student debt aggressively - still got 13K to go but I'm very thankful to be working full time.
Trace good for you! I'm also aggressively paying mine down and thankful to be working full time. I'm at 9k now. Good to see a fellow commentor that belies the image among some of these fools of student loan holders as deadbeats.
as long as i'm employed, my main priority would be paying down this debt. so there won't be any new/used homes nor nice cars being purchased anytime soon until i pay off student loans.
Yea I have close to 30k already...it's pretty scary when I think about it!
Just like Obama and the Libs planned, more Americans in debt to the government. Wake up people, their is a Lib plan to control your lives and Obama is the enforcer. Government debt is sky rocketing, personal income is plummeting. Do the math and you will quickly realize exactly where this country is heading. The good news is, Nov 6, real Americans with real woes are going to fire Obama and his Lib team and hire Mitt and Paul to take back our nation.
Sounds like good news for OdumbO. He can now increase his 47% dependent on gov. assistance. It couldn't of come in a more opportunistic time. He can now recommend to congress for no interest or forfeit the balance on there student loan on the taxpayers back. Redistribution the OdumbO way.
Marco - you are talking about the same situation as the housing bubble. I agree. I'm encouraging reasonable people to stop the immature name calling, though, ie., what the liberals are the absolute experts at, and stick to the facts.
It's true. Only the rich should benefit from living in this country.
Just a de facto subsidy to colleges for overpaid professors and overpriced colleges set on campus expansion on the backs of parents and, ultimately, taxpayers.
to whom do they owe the money, that's what I'd like to know.
People need to consider what the salary prospects are for their chosen career paths before they sign the loan papers. Don't put yourself $50K in debt for a job that will only pay $30K a year. Also, it would be nice if our country were not so degree obsessed. I can't tell you how many jobs I have seen that say "masters degree preferred". What happened to training? What happened to apprenticeships? The Bachelor's degree is like an high school diploma. Finding a job really sucks.
At least this debt teaches people a lesson they could never learn in college: If you went to a vocational school, you would have graduated in half the time with marketable skills sought by employers. Perhaps this lesson is still useful to those considering graduate school as a way to delay unemployment.
Those vocational schools run the biggest scams of them all. Nothing is transferable and you take your chances that an employer has even heard of the school, plus the school will 'graduate' you whether you're qualified or not as long as your bill is fully paid.
nvpat - I'm pretty sure Al's NOT referring to those private for-profit schools. In the state I live in, they have a number of public (usually affiliated with a county) vocational schools. Many are tied in with community colleges, so you can attend and choose from a wide variety of programs.