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. The disparity between Black and white student loan debt is greater than that between first-generation students and students whose parents went to college. It's also greater than the debt difference correlated with household income.

How much is Black student loan debt?

In 2022, the median debt held by Black student loan borrowers was $26,000. That's $1,000 more than the median debt held by white borrowers.

How do you know if a student loan is predatory?

Be wary of colleges that promise student loan forgiveness or use aggressive recruitment tactics. While student debt forgiveness exists in some forms, like the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, this program can be difficult to qualify for and still requires borrowers to make 120 on-time payments. In 2023, the government agreed to erase the debt of 200,000 student borrowers who said they were defrauded by mostly for-profit colleges. If you think you have been defrauded, you can apply for borrower defense to loan repayment through the Department of Education.

Examining Student Loan Debt by Race: 2024 Statistics

Updated on June 14, 2024

Edited by

• Fact-checked by Marley Rose

Learn more about our editorial process

Student loan debt varies drastically by race. Black adults carry the highest levels of student loan debt and are most likely to face repayment barriers.

A black male college student stopping at an ATM in the city uses his debit card to retrieve cash from his bank account.

Credit: Image Credit: Ivan Pantic / E+ / Getty Images

Data Summary

In 2022, 36% of Black adults carried student loan debt. One in five white adults (20%), 15% of Hispanic adults, and about 24% of adults of other races carried student loan debt.^{Note Reference [1]}
The median Black student loan debt is $26,000. It’s $25,000 for white borrowers, $13,000 for Hispanic borrowers, and $25,000 for borrowers of other races.^{Note Reference [1]}
By 2022, the median Black student loan debt had quadrupled from thirty years ago.^{Note Reference [1]}
Black adults are more likely to carry student loan debt than white adults at every level of educational attainment.^{Note Reference [2]}
Hispanic or Latino/a private student loan borrowers face repayment difficulties at rates more than double that of white borrowers.^{Note Reference [3]}
Black private student loan borrowers face repayment barriers at rates almost four times that of white borrowers.^{Note Reference [3]}
While most bachelor’s degree-holders’ debts shrink after earning their degree, Black degree-holders’ debts grow after graduation, on average.^{Note Reference [4]}

In the U.S., one in three adults who attended college took on student loan debt. The median debt in 2023, was between $20,000-$25,000.^{Note Reference [5]} However, average student loan debt varies dramatically by race.

Black adults in particular tend to bear the highest burdens across indicators, from student loan borrowing rates to default rates to average debt. These debt disparities are symptoms of — and reinforce — a racial wealth gap in and beyond the college years.

Keep reading to find student debt by race statistics, debt by race and gender, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Student Loan Debt by Race

Black adults are more than twice as likely than white adults to have student loan debt.^{Note Reference [1]}

The following graph includes federal and private student loan debt among all adults.

On average, Black adults in the U.S. also hold higher student loan debt balances than borrowers of other races.^{Note Reference [1]} The graph below shows the median debt held per borrower by race. The median, versus the average or mean, may be more indicative of what’s typical, since outliers more easily skew averages.

Black borrowers are also more likely to have higher debt balances. Over half of Black student loan borrowers have at least $25,000 in student loan debt from their own education, versus 41% of white borrowers and 37% of Hispanic borrowers.

This debt imbalance begins early on. Black bachelor’s completers have higher levels of debt at graduation compared to peers of other races.

Student Loan Debt Owed vs. Amount Borrowed by Race

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reported how much debt bachelor’s degree-completers owe four years after graduation compared to the amount they borrowed. Below, find this figure represented as a ratio: 100% means that 12 months later, borrowers still owed the full amount of borrowed debt. More than 100% indicates that they owe more than the original loan amount due to accumulated interest.

Black bachelor’s degree recipients are the only racial group to owe more on average than they initially borrowed four years after graduating.

Brookings’ analysis found the debt gap between Black and white student borrowers more than triples by four years after graduation.^{Note Reference [7]} After four years, Black college graduates owe 6% more than their initial loan amount while white college grads owe 10% less than what they borrowed.

Student Loan Debt by Race Over Time

Until 2022, the median Black student loan debt increased faster than median student debt levels across other racial groups.

Student Loan Debt by Race and Gender

When looking at race and gender combined, Black women borrow the highest amount of student loan debt on average — over $20,000 more than white men, who borrow the least amount of student loan debt, on average.

Black Student Loan Debt

Across student loan debt by race statistics, Black borrowers consistently see the highest debt levels at the highest rates. Recent reports reveal:

The Black-white student loan debt gap is greater than other debt gaps. It outweighs the gap correlated with household income level and the debt differences between first-generation students and students whose parents have college degrees.^{Note Reference [7], Note Reference [8]}
Income inequality may hamper Black borrowers’ ability to readily pay off student loan debt. Black graduates with a bachelor’s degree or higher earned lower median incomes than white peers with similar educational attainment. Among 25-34-year-olds, Black bachelor’s graduates earned annual median wages of $56,030 in 2022. That’s roughly $14,000 less per year than white bachelor’s grads.^{Note Reference [9]}
The impact of generational wealth may deepen the Black-white student loan debt gap after graduation. White college graduates are more likely to receive financial support from their parents (e.g., toward their education or for a home purchase). In contrast, Black college graduates are more likely to financially support their parents.^{Note Reference [10]}
Black parents who take out loans for their child’s education are disproportionately impacted by debt.Parent PLUS loans offer fewer loan repayment and forgiveness options. Additionally, parents don’t reap the rewards of the college degree they go into debt for.

Student Loan Payments by Race

Average Monthly Student Loan Payments by Race

To estimate monthly student loan payments by race, we used the average federal loan amount by race for bachelor’s completers in 2019-2020, as reported by the NCES. We assumed a 10-year loan term at a student loan interest rate of 4.53% annually. Ten-year terms are standard for federal loans, and 4.53% was the set interest rate for federal undergraduate student loans when the data was collected.^{Note Reference [11], Note Reference [12]}

Keep in mind that monthly payment amounts look different for students with private loans, which can have higher interest rates and longer terms than federal loans. Payments could also be lower for borrowers who qualify for income-driven repayment plans, where borrowers only pay up to a certain percentage of what they earn.

Monthly Federal Student Loan Payments for Bachelor’s Completers, by Race (2020)
Race/Ethnicity	Monthly Payment
Asian	$240
Hispanic	$240
White	$250
All Bachelor’s Degree Completers	$260
Two or More Races	$280
Black	$330

Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest $10.

Source: Calculation using NCES data^{Note Reference [6]}

Borrowers Behind on Loan Payments

In 2023, Black and Hispanic adults with student loan debt were more likely to be behind on student loan payments compared to white adults with debt.^{Note Reference [5]}

Defaulted Student Loans and Race

If you cannot pay your student loan, you may have options. For federal loans, you can apply for forbearance (a pause) or income-driven repayment. After not paying for an extended period, you go into default.

Defaulting on a loan can cause debt to snowball. It hurts your credit score, and lenders may even garnish wages from your paycheck.

An analysis of student loan default rates found that Black and Hispanic former students defaulted on student loans more than their Asian, Pacific Islander, and white peers.^{Note Reference [7]} Black college entrants defaulted on student loans at more than double the average rate.

Frequently Asked Questions About 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.^{Note Reference [2]}

The disparity between Black and white student loan debt is greater than that between first-generation students and students whose parents went to college. It’s also greater than the debt difference correlated with household income.^{Note Reference [7], Note Reference [8]}

References

Survey of Consumer Finances, 1989-2022. The Federal Reserve. November 2023. (back to footnote 1 in content ⤶)
King, M.D. et al. COVID-19 Adds to Economic Hardship of Those Most Likely to Have Student Loans. August 2021. (back to footnote 2 in content ⤶)
National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 2016 data (PDF), analysis by the Student Borrower Protection Center. April 2020. (back to footnote 3 in content ⤶)
Federal Loan Debt Four Years After Completion, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). June 2023. (back to footnote 4 in content ⤶)
Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2023, The Federal Reserve. May 2024. (back to footnote 5 in content ⤶)
Table 331.95 Percentage of undergraduate degree/certificate completers who ever received federal loans and parent PLUS loans and average cumulative loan amount, by degree level, selected student characteristics, and institution control: 2019-20. NCES. December 2023. (back to footnote 6 in content ⤶)
Scott-Clayton, Judith and Li, Jing. Black-white disparity in student loan debt more than triples after graduation. Brookings. October 2016. (back to footnote 7 in content ⤶)
Table: Cumulative amount of federal loans, 12 months after BA completion (median) with zeros by Race/ethnicity (with multiple) and gender. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Baccalaureate and Beyond: 2016/2020 (B&B). Accessed June 2024. (back to footnote 8 in content ⤶)
Table 502.30. Median annual earnings of full-time year-round workers 25 to 34 years old and full-time year-round workers as a percentage of the labor force, by sex, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment: Selected years, 2005-2022. NCES. October 2023. (back to footnote 9 in content ⤶)
Meschede, Tatjana, et al. “Family Achievements?”: How a College Degree Accumulates Wealth for Whites and Not for Blacks. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review. February 2017. (back to footnote 10 in content ⤶)
Standard Plan. Federal Student Aid, an Office of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed June 2024. (back to footnote 11 in content ⤶)
Federal Interest Rates and Fees, Federal Student Aid, an Office of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed June 2024. (back to footnote 12 in content ⤶)
Scott-Clayton, Judith. The Looming Student Loan Default Crisis Is Worse Than We Thought. Brookings. January 2018. (back to footnote 13 in content ⤶)