What are the racial disparities in student loan debt?

Asked by: Miss Brianne Hessel  |  Last update: May 21, 2025
Score: 4.9/5 (50 votes)

Student Loans by Race and Ethnicity 47% of white undergraduate students use student loans to pay for school. 54% of student loan money goes to white students. 66% of black students use student loans. 15% of loan money goes to black students.

What racial group has the most student loan debt?

Who has the most student loan debt by race? Black adults are more likely to have student loan debt than those in other racial or ethnic groups. They are more likely than white adults to hold student debt at every level of educational attainment.

What is the black white disparity in student loan debt?

By midcareer, these differences are even starker: Black borrowers are 26.6 percent more likely than White borrowers to have student debt remaining, and, among midcareer debtors, Black borrowers owe 38.7 percent more than their White counterparts.

Who is the most affected by student loan debt?

Black and Latino borrowers are disproportionately impacted by student loan debt. Due to racial wealth disparities, most Black and Latino college students come from low-income backgrounds and can count on only a fraction of the financial support.

What ethnic group has the most debt?

Approximately three-quarters of Black- and White-headed families have debt, but the median debt-to-asset ratio is 50% higher among Black than White families (Copeland, 2020), with Black borrowers less likely to fully repay loans (Brevoort et al., 2021).

Racial disparities in student loan debt

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How does race affect student debt?

Student Loan Debt by Race and Ethnicity

40% of Black graduates have student loan debt from graduate school, while 22% of White college graduates have graduate school debt. Over 50% of Black student borrowers report their net worth is less than they owe in student loan debt.

What race receives the most financial aid?

Higher percentages of Black (88 percent) and American Indian/Alaska Native (87 percent) students received grants than students who were of Two or more races (79 percent), White (74 percent), and Asian (66 percent).

Who owes the majority of student debt?

Among student borrowers, women take out an average of $31,276, while men borrow an average of $29,270, according to a 2021 data analysis by the American Association of University Women. Black women owe a disproportionate amount of student debt.

Which gender has the most student loan debt?

64% of all student loan debt belongs to women. The average student debt for women in the U.S. is $31,726. Women have a median annual salary of $56,170 following college graduation, which is 26% of what men can expect to earn following graduation.

Who is to blame for the high student loan debt?

Low-income, first-generation college students, independent students, and borrowers who are Black, Hispanic or Native American are more likely to borrow larger amounts and face greater difficulty repaying their loans. Female graduates are also more likely to have student loan debt and typically earn less after ...

What is the dark side of student loans?

That not only affects your financial health but also your mental health.” That distraction can make it difficult for current students to concentrate on their studies. And for graduates in debt, the mental energy used on loan repayment plans and budgeting can negatively impact relationships.

What is the black white income gap?

The Black-white income gap has persisted and grown since 1970, from a gap of $23,700 in 1970, when the median income for a Black household was $30,400 compared to $54,100 for a white household, to $33,000 in 2018, when the median income for a Black family of three was $51,600 compared to $84,600 for a white family of ...

What is a black loan?

The Black Business Loan Program provides loans, loan guarantees, or investments through Loan Administrators to black business enterprises that cannot otherwise obtain capital through conventional lending institutions but who could otherwise compete successfully in the private sector.

Is student loan forgiveness bad for the economy?

Cancelling student loan debt may reduce unemployment by adding up to 1.5 million new jobs. Federal student loans represent 90.8% of all student loan debt, public and privately held ($1.77 trillion total).

Which group is the most behind on repayment of their student loans?

Overview. Black and Hispanic or Latino student loan borrowers are more likely to have difficulty repaying their loans than their White peers, according to a significant body of research.

Which generation has the most student loan debt?

The Gen X debt situation

The cohort also has the largest share of people with debt, nearly 99% carry some type of balance, LendingTree found. Gen Xers led the way in three of the four categories analyzed. The group — between 44 and 59 years old — has the highest median credit card, auto loan and student loan balances.

Who suffers the most from student debt?

Meanwhile, adults between the ages of 35 and 49 years old on average owe the most student loan debt.
  • 34% of adults between the ages of 18 and 29 owe student loan debt.
  • 22% of adults between the ages of 30 and 44 owe student debt.
  • 7% of those between the ages of 45 and 59 owe student debt.

Which gender holds the most credit card debt?

Women are stereotypically seen as irresponsible spenders, but the data doesn't back this up. According to a 2019 Experian study, men carry more debt than women across nearly all categories, including credit card debt — the study found that men have $125 more in credit card debt than women on average.

What race has the most debt?

Households with a Black householder were more likely than those with a White householder to have unsecured debt (61.3% vs. 53.4%), especially student loan (25.8% vs. 17.2%) and medical debt (22.5% vs. 13.4%).

Who is the billionaire that paid off student debt?

Billionaire Robert F. Smith pledged to pay off student loans for every member of Morehouse College's graduating class. The Ivy League-educated business leader made his fortune investing in software firms and other tech companies.

Which profession has the highest student loan debt?

Highest Student Loan Debt: The top ten professions with the highest student loan debt.
  • Medical Professionals (Doctors and Surgeons) ...
  • Dentists. ...
  • Lawyers. ...
  • Pharmacists. ...
  • Veterinarians. ...
  • MBA Graduates. ...
  • Nurses and Nurse Practitioners. ...
  • Chiropractors.

What race donates the most money?

Black Americans donated a higher percentage of their income to religious congregations and secular causes in 2018 than all other racial groups, except for White Americans. The main findings of this report are based on the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy's Philanthropy Panel Study (PPS).

Which race goes to college the most?

In 2022, the college enrollment rate for 18- to 24-year-olds was higher for those who were Asian (61 percent) than for those of all other racial/ethnic groups: White (41 percent) Two or more races (36 percent) Black (36 percent)

Which race gets the most scholarships?

A Closer Look: Statistics
  • Caucasian students get more than 75% of all institutional merit-based scholarship and grant funding, despite the fact that they represent less than 3/4 of the student population.
  • Caucasian students are 40% more likely to win private scholarships than minorities.