College seniors who graduated in 2009 carried an average of $24,000 in debt from student loans. That figure represents a 6-percent increase over 2008 and continues a four-year trend of rising debt from student loans among college graduates, according to a recent report by The Project on Student Debt.
The report, “Student Debt and the Class of 2009,” analyzes average student loan debt loads for graduates of more than 1,000 public and private nonprofit four-year colleges throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report comes with a companion interactive map that allows states to be searched for student loan debt information from individual institutions.
Most of the states with high levels of student loan debt were in the Northeast, while most of the low-debt states were in the West. The highest average levels of debt from college loans were held by graduates from colleges in the District of Columbia ($30,033) and New Hampshire ($29,443). The lowest average levels of student loan debt were held by graduates from colleges in Utah ($12,860) and Georgia ($16,568).
Actual state averages of college loan debt loads “are likely higher than these estimates, which are based on data reported voluntarily by public and private nonprofit four-year colleges,” according to the press release announcing the report (“Student Debt Keeps Rising, Unemployment High for Recent Grads,” Oct. 21, 2010).
These state averages also do not include college loan data from private for-profit institutions — which enroll students who generally borrow more money in student loans than students at public and private nonprofit four-year colleges — because very few for-profit schools voluntarily report data on debt from student loans.
More Student Loans, Plus Record Unemployment, Equals Tough Times for Grads
In addition to an overall national increase in average debt from student loans, the report also found that unemployment rates for college graduates ages 20–24 spiked from 5.8 percent in 2008 to 8.7 percent in 2009, marking the highest annual graduate unemployment rate on record and creating more challenges for graduates looking to pay back increasing amounts of student loans.
“The unemployment rate is higher than ever for everyone, including people who didn’t go to college, and obviously that’s a huge concern,” said Sandy Baum, an economics professor who found similar average student loan debt levels in her analysis of student loan data for the College Board (“Average College Debt Rose to $24,000 in 2009,” The New York Times, Oct. 21, 2010).
“With student debt rising and jobs hard to come by, it’s more important than ever to shop around when deciding where to go to college,” said Lauren Asher, president of the Institute for College Access & Success, the research and advocacy group that operates The Project on Student Debt.
Asher said the report shows that students’ debt levels from college loans “vary widely — not only from state to state but also from college to college, even when the sticker prices look the same.”
Asher emphasized that it’s in students’ best interests to exhaust all their scholarship and federal financial aid options, including government-issued grants and low-cost federal student loans, before turning to non-federal private student loans.
“Differences in the kind of debt students graduate with matter,” Asher said. “It’s important to remember that the experts all agree that if you’re going to borrow, you should take out federal loans first, because federal student loans come with far more repayment options and borrower protections than other types of loans.”
Further Reading
The Project on Student Debt. “Student Debt and the Class of 2009.” October 21, 2010.
The Project on Student Debt. “Student Debt and the Class of 2008.” December 1, 2009.
The Project on Student Debt. “Student Debt and the Class of 2007.” October 22, 2008.
The Project on Student Debt. “Student Debt and the Class of 2006.” September 25, 2007.
The Project on Student Debt. “Student Debt and the Class of 2005.” August 29, 2006.
No comments:
Post a Comment