Congressional Joint Economic Committee Issues New Report on Student Loans

The Congressional Joint Economic Committee released a new report Tuesday on student loan borrowing as debates continue on the future of subsidized Stafford loan interest rates. Student loan debt has risen nearly two-fold in five years, according to the report, “The Causes and Consequences of Increasing Student Debt.”

Among the report's key findings:

• Two-thirds of recent graduates have student loans, with an average balance of more than $27,000.
• On average, recent graduates left college with student loan debt of 60% of their annual income.
• The recent recession accelerated the loss of many higher-paying jobs that did not require a college degree, while the number of jobs demanding more technical training and expertise has increased.
• Per-capita enrollment in degree-granting institutions increased by 21% among traditional students (age 24 and younger), while experienced workers similarly are returning to school to upgrade their skills or retrain for different jobs.
• Average annual published in-state tuition at public 4-year universities increased by 86% between 2000 and 2012, from $4,650 to $8,660, while average net tuition at those universities, which excludes grants and scholarships, jumped 11.4% during the same period.
• Among individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree, students who started their college education in 1988 accumulated $16,400, on average, in loan debt. Seven years later, that figure was $22,900, an increase of nearly 40%.
• Student debt and delinquencies varied widely state-by-state.  For example, the average student loan indebtedness of those who graduated in 2011 varied from a low of $17,585 in Utah to a high of $33,113 in New Hampshire.
• Across the United States, 15.9% of student loan borrowers under the age of 30 were 90 or more days delinquent, with Mississippi having the highest delinquency rate of 22.4% and Utah having the lowest delinquency rate of 9.0%.

To read the full report, click here.

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