Skip to content

Friday, Aug. 13, 2021

Is educational debt a significant source of debt for American households?


yes

As of the first quarter of 2021, student loan debt is the highest non-housing debt category for Americans, totaling $1.58 trillion. This category has remained one of the highest since the beginning of the 2010s, followed closely by auto loan debt. Between 2007 and 2020, student loan debt more than tripled to over $1.5 trillion. More than half of U.S. undergraduates rely on federal student loans to finance college, and student debt was the most significant source of non-mortgage debt for American households in 2020. Furthermore, while U.S. college attendance rates increased steadily between 1990 and 2020, the percentage of students completing a bachelor’s degree by age 25 did not. This is a major issue for borrowers since college dropouts are much more likely to default on their loans.

See a full discussion of this at EconoFact

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

About fact briefs

Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.

See all fact briefs

EconoFact is a non-partisan publication designed to bring key facts and incisive analysis to the national debate on economic and social policies. Launched in January 2017, it is written by leading academic economists from across the country who belong to the EconoFact Network. It is published by the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at The Fletcher School at Tufts University.

Learn More

Be a Friend of facts

Help us fund more great fact briefs like this one.