Very few people actually owe $100,000 or more
The numbers tell the tale: According to the College Board, the amount undergraduates borrowed in federal loans dropped last year to $4,510 per student from $5,830 in the 20102011 academic year. Loans taken out annually by students and parents for all higher education institutions also fell, from a peak of $127.7 billion in 201011 to $105.5 billion last year.
Well, for one thing, there are fewer people going to college and grad school these days to take out loans
What’s behind the drop? Attendance tends to climb during a recession when people can’t find jobs and fall when the economy recovers and that pattern played out as usual after the 2008 financial crisis, explains the Urban Institute’s Baum. In better economic times parents may also be able to pay more toward college costs, decreasing the need for dependent students to borrow. And, over the past few years, a decline in the number of for-profit schools, where borrowing tends to be heaviest, could also be a contributing factor, Baum adds.
Economic recovery has also enabled states and schools to do more to rein in costs and borrowing. According to The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS), state spending payday loan cash advance Kimberly on higher education following the Great Recession increased an average of 23 percent over the four years ending in 2016. Read more