Forty-two million people, or one in six American adults, currently carry a federal student loan. The nation’s overall student debt reached $1.6 trillion in June 2019. What’s behind this large number?
According to data from the Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in 2017, approximately 46% of all full-time, first-time undergraduate students had student loans. Students attending public institutions, which have lower tuition on average, were less likely to be awarded loans, whereas more than 60% of students at private for-profit and non-profit institutions were awarded loans.
