Misleading: Student loan debt NOT from undergrad degrees

New report says there’s a myth about student loan debt, and the real cause may shock you

loan-debt-studentAccording to a new report, the current national concern and outrage over student loan debt is misguided, since many believe the debt occurs while obtaining an undergraduate degree. Not true, say data experts, who revealed that most student loan debt comes from pursuing graduate degrees.

The report, “The Graduate Student Debt Review: The State of Graduate Student Borrowing,” released by the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute, basis its findings from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS)—a research dataset published every four years to compile information on student-level records, financial aid, student demographic, and enrollment data.

After reviewing the data, the report states that much (40 percent) of the $1 trillion in outstanding student loans derives from graduate and professional degrees, rather than bachelor’s or associate’s degrees.…Read More