US Student Loans 5-9-25

Nearly 43 million Americans owe a total of $1.6 trillion in federal student loans as of the end of 2024, according to Department of Education data. 

How long would it take to pay off $100,000 in a student loan?

Repayment term	Monthly payments	Total interest paid
10 years	$1,110	$33,225
15 years	$844	$51,984
20 years	$716	$71,943
25 years	$643	$93,290

The amount of student loan debt that Americans owe varies widely by their education level. Overall, the median borrower with outstanding student debt owed between $20,000 and $24,999 in 2023.

Among borrowers who attended some college but don’t have a bachelor’s degree, the median owed was between $10,000 and $14,999 in 2023.

The typical bachelor’s degree holder who borrowed owed between $20,000 and $24,999.

Among borrowers with a postgraduate degree the median owed was between $40,000 and $49,999.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/18/facts-about-student-loans/

A significant portion of American adults with bachelor's degrees are paying off student loans. Approximately 20% of all American adults with undergraduate degrees have outstanding student debt, with 24% of postgraduate degree holders reporting the same. While 20% of U.S. adults report having paid off their student loan debt, a substantial number are still navigating the repayment process. 

In the 2021-2022 academic year, approximately 123,000 bachelor's degrees were awarded in engineering in the U.S., representing 6% of all bachelor's degrees conferred. This accounts for a total of 2.0 million bachelor's degrees awarded overall. 

In the U.S., approximately 2% of four-year college graduates pursue a medical degree. This means that around 21,000 graduates receive an MD (Medical Doctor) and about 7,000 receive a DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine). Additionally, about 6,500 students are admitted to dental schools, 4,000 to veterinary schools, and 600 to podiatric schools. 

In 2023, there were approximately 116,897 students enrolled in JD programs at ABA-accredited law schools in the U.S., according to Wikipedia. 

The 15% of college grads who graduate with occupational degrees like engineering and advanced degrees like MD, DMD or JD should be able to pay off their student loans.

Of the 85% of college grads who have BS degrees, those 30% with non-occupational degrees will struggle to repay their student loans or will default.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, approximately 19% of the 2.0 million bachelor's degrees conferred in the U.S. were in business, totaling about 375,400 degrees. This makes business the most common field of study for bachelor's degrees in the U.S. 

In the 2021-2022 academic year, US postsecondary institutions conferred 263,800 bachelor's degrees in health professions and related programs. This number represents 13% of all bachelor's degrees awarded that year. In addition, a significant portion of healthcare graduates (26.2%) also earned associate's degrees, while 39.0% earned master's degrees and 13.0% earned doctorate or professional degrees. 

https://www.google.com/search?q=how+many+us+college+grads+have+bs+healthcare+degrees&

Comments

About 70% of college grads should be able to pay off their student loans. This includes 6% Engineering, 19% BS Business, 5% JD Law, 15% MDs,13% BS Health and AS Health 26.2%.

Student Loans should not be granted to the 30% of students who choose non-occupational courses, because their risk to default is high.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader