According to the Education Data Initiative, 56% of student debt is held by households with graduate degrees.
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The average student loan debt was $28,400 for 2019-20 graduates, according to the most recent CollegeBoard data.
Higher-income families tend to have higher average student loan debts.
Student loan debt is highest among Black families, compared with other races.
The average student loan debt among borrowers who graduated in 2019-20 was $28,400, according to the most recent data from CollegeBoard. However, recent executive action will reduce that debt for a significant chunk of borrowers.
The Biden administration announced it will forgive $10,000 in student loans for single borrowers who make $125,000 or less will qualify for aid and married couples and heads of households who make less than $250,000 will also qualify for aid. The amount of forgiveness will be $20,000 for those who went to college on Pell Grants.
But, the amount of student loan debt borrowers take on — and subsequently, how much they’ll be impacted by forgiveness — depends on several factors.
Average student loan debt by household income
Families earning higher incomes tend to have higher student loan balances. Here’s how the average student loan debt breaks down by percentile of income — or where a family falls on America’s income spectrum — according to the a 2022 report by the Education Data Initiative:
Income levelAverage student debt balanceBelow 25th percentile $30,57526th to 49th percentile $37,45550th to 82nd percentile $43,13583rd to 98th percentile$45,96599th+ percentile$40,550
According to the Education Data Initiative’s data, 56% of student debt is held by households with graduate degrees. While graduate school means more time in school, it also tends to mean more debt at a higher interest rate. Federal student loans for undergraduate students disbursed after July 1, 2022 and before July 1, 2023 carry a 4.99% interest rate, while graduate loans are higher at 6.54%.
According to CollegeBoard data on the debt borrowers held the end of the second quarter of 2021, borrowers who had over $100,000 in debt made up only 7% of the overall borrowers, while accounting for 37% of the total debt.
Debt amountPercent of borrowersPercent of debtLess than $5,00016%1%$5,000 to $9,99917%3%$10,000 to $19,99921%9%$20,000 to $39,99921%17%$40,000 to $59,9999%13%$60,000 to $79,9996%11%$80,000 to $99,9993%8%$100,000 to $199,9995%20%$200,000+2%17%
Average student loan debt by race
Student loans have a disproportionate impact on Black borrowers and their families.
According to 2019 data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (the most recent year for which data broken down by race is available), Black borrowers face significantly more student loan debt than white or Hispanic borrowers. Here’s how the average student loan debt breaks down by race for student loan borrowers:
RaceAverage student loan balanceBlack $44,880White$40,170Hispanic$30,890Other identities$40,400
CollegeBoard points out that the racial wealth gap contributes to this. According US Census data, the average Black family has a median net worth of $9,600 when white families have a median net worth of $130,800.
Average student loan debt by school type
Private schools tend to be more expensive, and as a result, students at private colleges and universities tend to borrow more. Here’s the debt amount of the average student who attended public versus private college, according to data from CollegeBoard on 2019-20 bachelor’s degree recepients:
School typeAverage debt Public college or university$26,700Private nonprofit college or university$33,600
How to pay off student loan debt
Paying down student loan debt can be a challenge, but there are several moves to make if you want to make a dent in your student loan debt.
Make a plan for debt repayment
Using a debt repayment method like the debt snowball, where you prioritize loans from smallest to largest and build up momentum, or debt avalanche, where you prioritize loans from highest to lowest interest rate to reduce payments over the years, may help you divide your loans into manageable parts to start making progress.
These methods aren’t the only debt-tackling methods out there, but they are two of the most common. Both start by listing out all of your debts and income, and then choosing which debt to put all of your resources towards first. Either is an effective method to start paying off student loan debt, no matter how large your loans are.
Consider refinancing your student loans
If you have student loan debt from several years ago and haven’t considered refinancing, now might be the time.
Interest rates are lower than they have been in the past, and refinancing could help you lower your interest rates. People who borrowed federal student loans when interest rates were higher several years ago could lower interest rates and save on interest by refinancing.
However, federal student loan borrowers should be careful before they refinance: By refinancing their public loans into private, they will lose some of the protections of federal student loans like the CARES Act forbearance and interest rate suspension, as well as access to income-driven repayment plans.