Higher Education and Student Loans
In 2024, rates of education and types of institutions attended continued to vary by demographic characteristics such as parental education, age, and race and ethnicity. Additionally, rates of borrowers required to make monthly payments on their student loans, and those behind on making payments, rose compared to 2022.
Educational Attainment
Most adults have enrolled in some education after high school, although rates vary across demographic groups. Seventy-one percent of adults had ever attended an educational program after high school, whereas just over half had received at least a certificate or technical degree, and 37 percent had received at least a bachelor's degree.
The likelihood of obtaining a bachelor's degree or more was higher among those whose parents were college graduates. Among adults who have at least one parent with a bachelor's degree, 66 percent received at least a bachelor's degree themselves (table 43). In contrast, 25 percent of adults whose parents did not complete a bachelor's degree received one. Asian adults also had far higher rates of completing a bachelor's degree than other adults.
Table 43. Educational attainment (by age, race/ethnicity, and parental education)
Percent
| Characteristic | Ever enrolled in an educational program after high school | Received bachelor's degree or more |
|---|---|---|
| Age | ||
| 18–29 | 70 | 30 |
| 30–44 | 72 | 43 |
| 45–59 | 74 | 39 |
| 60+ | 70 | 35 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||
| White | 74 | 41 |
| Black | 69 | 28 |
| Hispanic | 57 | 21 |
| Asian | 92 | 67 |
| Highest education of any parent/guardian | ||
| Less than a bachelor's degree | 63 | 25 |
| Bachelor's degree or more | 93 | 66 |
| Overall | 71 | 37 |
Note: Among all adults.
The type of institution attended also varied with parental education and race.74 Most adults who attended an educational program beyond high school went to public institutions (69 percent), while just less than one-fourth attended private not-for-profit schools and 7 percent attended private for-profit schools. Although private for-profit schools comprised a relatively small share of the higher education attendance for students of a range of backgrounds, adults whose parents did not have a bachelor's degree were more likely to attend a private for-profit institution than those who had a parent with a bachelor's degree—10 percent versus 3 percent, respectively. Additionally, 14 percent of Black adults and 11 percent of Hispanic adults who pursued education beyond high school attended for-profit schools—much higher than the shares of White and Asian adults who pursued postsecondary education who attended for-profit schools (5 percent for both groups).
Incidence and Types of Education Debt
It is common to use debt to finance higher education. More than 4 in 10 people who pursued education beyond high school—representing 30 percent of all adults—said they took out student loans for their education. This includes 17 percent who still owed money on outstanding loans ("student loan borrowers") and 24 percent who borrowed but fully repaid their education debts.
The likelihood of having borrowed is greatest among those with a bachelor's degree or graduate degree. Forty-eight percent of adults with a bachelor's degree and 54 percent of those with graduate degree said they took out student loans for their education. In addition, 28 percent of people who attended college, but never completed an associate, bachelor's, or graduate degree say that they took on student debt.
The share borrowing for their education varied across age groups, consistent with the pace of borrowing when their age cohort generally went to school.75 Adults ages 30 to 44 were most likely to have taken out student loans for their education, while older adults were less likely to do so (figure 34). As new education borrowing has declined in the past decade, fewer young adults under age 30 have borrowed for their education than those ages 30 to 44.
The reduction in borrowing among the most recent cohorts can also be seen when looking at the share of young adults who report education debt over time. In 2017, 55 percent of those ages 18 to 29 who at least attended college had taken on student loan debt. In 2024, 42 percent of this group reported having taken on debt.76
Figure 34. Acquired student loans for own education, including repaid debt (by age)
Accessible Version | Return to text
Note: Among adults who attended an educational program beyond high school. Key identifies bars in order from left to right.
Most student loan borrowers with outstanding debt owed less than $25,000 on their loans.77 The median amount of education debt in 2024 among those with any outstanding debt for their own education was between $20,000 and $24,999. Twenty-eight percent of student loan borrowers had less than $10,000 in outstanding student debt. Student debt balances also varied across different demographic groups. Borrowers with higher levels of education were more likely to carry higher balances of student loan debt (figure 35). White and Black borrowers were more likely than Hispanic borrowers to carry higher balances of student loan debt.
Figure 35. Share of borrowers with at least $25,000 of student loan debt from their own education (by education and race/ethnicity)
Accessible Version | Return to text
Note: Among adults with outstanding student loans for their own education who reported the current amount they owed on their student loans.
The incidence of education debt varied by the type of institution attended. Among those who attended public institutions, 38 percent either previously held debt or currently had debt as of October 2024, compared with 54 percent of those who attended private not-for-profit schools and 65 percent who attended private for-profit institutions.
Some people also took out student loans to assist family members with their education through either a co-signed loan with the student or a loan taken out independently. Although this was less common than borrowing for one's own education, 5 percent of all adults had student loans that paid for a child's or grandchild's education. Among those who had outstanding debt for a child's or grandchild's education, the median amount of debt was between $20,000 and $24,999, similar to that for people borrowing for their own education.78
Student Loan Payment Status
Because of policies such as in-school deferments, not all borrowers are required to make payments on their loans. Additionally, recent shifts in the student loan landscape have affected who is required to make payments.79 As of October 2024, 57 percent of borrowers with student loans for their own education reported that they were currently required to make monthly payments on their student loans. This remained well above the 37 percent of borrowers who reported they were required to make payments in 2022. In 2024, 20 percent of borrowers reported being behind on payments or in collections for one or more of their student loans, up from 16 percent in 2023.
Similar to findings in previous years, borrowers with less education or a lower income were more likely to be behind on their student loan payments. Three in ten borrowers with loans outstanding who completed some college, a technical degree, or an associate degree reported being behind, as were 27 percent of borrowers earning less than $25,000 (table 44).80 In addition to the differences by income and education level, Hispanic and Black borrowers reported higher rates of being behind on student loan payments.
Table 44. Behind on student loan payments (by family income, education, and race/ethnicity)
| Characteristic | Percent |
|---|---|
| Family income | |
| Less than $25,000 | 27 |
| $25,000–$49,999 | 27 |
| $50,000–$99,999 | 21 |
| $100,000 or more | 10 |
| Education | |
| Some college or technical degree | 30 |
| Associate degree | 30 |
| Bachelor's degree | 11 |
| Graduate degree | 8 |
| Race/ethnicity | |
| White | 13 |
| Black | 26 |
| Hispanic | 29 |
| Asian | 6 |
| Overall | 20 |
Note: Among adults with outstanding student loans for their own education.
Difficulties with student loan payments also were greater for those who went to for-profit schools. Thirty-five percent of borrowers with outstanding student loans for their own education who attended for-profit institutions were behind on student loan payments, versus 16 percent of those who attended public institutions and 15 percent who attended private not-for-profit institutions.
Although it is common to focus only on those with outstanding debt, many people who borrowed for their education had repaid their loans completely. Excluding people who have paid off their debt could overstate difficulties with repayment. Indeed, the share of adults who were behind on their payments is much lower when accounting for all who ever borrowed, including those who had completely repaid that debt.
Among those who ever incurred debt for their education, 8 percent were behind on their payments at the time of the 2024 survey, and 33 percent had outstanding debt and were current on their payments. Fifty-nine percent had completely paid off their loans. Nevertheless, the demographic and educational characteristics of those who were behind on payments remain similar when also incorporating those who have paid off their loans.
References
74. Individuals do not self-report the type of institution in the survey. Instead, the institution type is assigned by matching the name and location of the college reported by the individual with data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data). For individuals who completed an associate or bachelor's degree, institution type is based on the school from which they received the degree. For other individuals, it is based on the last school attended. Return to text
75. Student loan borrowing has declined in real terms since its peak in 2010–11 but remains substantially above the levels from the mid-1990s. (Jennifer Ma, Matea Pender, and Meghan Oster, Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2024(New York: The College Board, 2024), https://research.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/Trends-in-College-Pricing-and-Student-Aid-2024-ADA.pdf). Return to text
76. In the 2024 survey, the questions about borrowing for one's own education asked only about student loans, whereas the 2017 survey included other forms of debt used to pay for education. Nonetheless, 94 percent of those who had outstanding debt for their own education in 2017 had student loans. Return to text
77. All amounts of student debt among adults with outstanding student loans for their own education are for those who reported the current amount they owed on these student loans and excluded those who said they don't know the amount. Return to text
78. The median amount of student debt for adults with outstanding student loans for their child's or grandchild's education is among those who reported the current amount they owed on these student loans and excluded those who said they do not know the amount. Return to text
79. For details on student loan policy changes during the pandemic, see Congressional Research Service, "Federal Student Loan Debt Relief in the Context of COVID-19" at https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46314, and U.S. Department of Education at https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/covid-19. Return to text
80. Currently enrolled students are frequently not required to make payments, so they are less likely to fall behind. Among those with less than an associate degree who enrolled in a degree program beyond high school but are not currently enrolled and owe outstanding student loans on their own education, a larger 41 percent of borrowers are behind. Return to text