Student Debt Is a Harsh Math Lesson for U.S. Graduates
- Education loans far outpace total debt over past decade
- Powell says elevated student loans could hold back growth
Photographer: Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images
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If scraping up enough beer money was a challenge for America’s college students, new graduates are in for a rude awakening when they realize how much of their paychecks will go toward their school loans.
Since 2003, borrowing for education advanced faster, in percentage terms, than all other types of consumer debt that includes mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York show. As of the fourth quarter, student loans represented 10.5 percent of a record $13.1 trillion in household debt, up from 3.3 percent at the start of 2003.