College graduates today are starting out with considerably more debt than their counterparts who finished school in the mid-1990s, thanks to the need to borrow more student loans than before. The Pew Research Center reported in a new study that 65% of 2008 graduates had borrowed some amount for college, compared with 51% in 1996. The average amount borrowed among the ’08 grads with bachelor’s degrees was $23,287, compared to $17,075 in 1996. Those earning associate’s degrees and certificates averaged more than $13,321 in loans, up from about $7,751 in 1996.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

The Rise of College Student Borrowing (by Rebecca Hinze-Pifer and Richard Fry, Pew Research Center)

Report: The Rise of College Student Borrowing (by Paul Taylor, Richard Fry, Rebecca Hinze-Pifer and Daniel Dockterman, Pew Research Center) (pdf)

Student Loan Debt Passes Credit Card Debt for First Time (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)