Indicator: Cumulative student debt Breadcrumb Home Indicators Cumulative Student Debt Definition The total amount of student loans individuals take out while enrolled in college. Recommended Metric(s) Median student debt Type(s) of Data Needed Administrative data Why it matters Higher student loan debt is associated with decreased rates of home ownership1 and worse mental health outcomes.2, 3 Compared to their peers, Black students take out loans more often than other racial and ethnic groups,4 and have more debt on average.5 Though the amount of debt students accumulate during college is affected by student-level factors such as their expected family contribution (EFC), system-level factors such as the tuition and fees charged by institutions and the amount of grant aid made available to students are the largest contributors to rising student debt.6, 7 Several factors, including the sector of the institution the student attended, the student’s grade point average (GPA) in college, whether the student attained a degree, and their labor market outcomes, also predict the probability of loan default. In particular, students attending for-profit institutions, who tend to be Black at disproportionately high rates, are at especially high risk for loan default.8 What to know about measurement The College Scorecard9 publicly reports institution-level median student loan debt, drawing on individual-level data in the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). However, because information on race and ethnicity is not yet collected on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, regular disaggregation of student debt by race and ethnicity requires NSLDS data to be linked to institutional or state records. E-W Case Studies Image California's Cradle-to-Career Data System California is developing a data system that brings together data from early learning programs, schools, colleges, financial aid providers, employers, workforce training programs, and social services. View Case Study Image Access to Student-Level FAFSA Completion Data in Iowa Staff in all public high schools in Iowa can now access data on whether their students completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and receive weekly FAFSA reports. View Case Study Source frameworks This indicator appeared in two source frameworks reviewed for this report. Our proposed definition and measure align with work by the Institute for Higher Education Policy. References 9U.S. Department of Education. (2021). Technical documentation: College scorecard data by field of study. https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/documentation/ 1Mezza, A., Ringo, D., Sherlund, S., & Sommer, K. (2020). Student loans and homeownership. Journal of Labor Economics, 38(1), 215–260. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/7046092Walsemann, K. M., Gee, G. C., & Gentile, D. (2015). Sick of our loans: Student borrowing and the mental health of young adults in the United States. Social Science & Medicine, 124, 85–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.11.0273Kim, J., & Chatterjee, S. (2019). Student loans, health, and life satisfaction of US households: Evidence from a panel study. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 40, 36–50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-018-9594-34Espinosa, L. L., Turk, J. M., Taylor, M., & Chessman, H. M. (2019). Race and ethnicity in higher education: A status report. American Council on Education. https://www.equityinhighered.org/resources/report-downloads/5Scott-Clayton, J., & Li, J. (2016). Black-white disparity in student loan debt more than triples after graduation. Brookings Institute. https://www.brookings.edu/research/black-white-disparity-in-student-loan-debt-more-than-triples-after-graduation/6Bleemer, Z., Brown, M., Lee, D., Strair, K., & van der Klaauw, W. (2017). Echoes of rising tuition in students’ borrowing, educational attainment, and homeownership in post-recession America. Federal Reserve Bank of NY Staff Report No. 820. https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/staff_reports/sr8207Monks, J. (2014). The role of institutional and state aid policies in average student debt. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027162145390938Scott-Clayton, J. (2018). What accounts for gaps in student loan default, and what happens after. Economic Studies at Brookings. Evidence Speaks Reports, 2(57). https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Report_Final.pdf