Student loan debt hits all-time high at $1.2 trillion

Student loan debt hits all-time high at $1.2 trillion | Circa News
Student loan debt continues to climb to new highs, concerning economists who say graduates are struggling to find jobs.

According to a Feb. 18 blog post by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student loan debt amounted to a record $1.2 trillion in 2014. People are taking out larger loans and the average balance for each borrower has grown 74% in the last decade. The average borrower had $27,000 dollars in student loan debt in 2014.

In the last three months of 2014, the share of loans that were considered officially delinquent, with payments at least 90 days overdue, rose to 11.3%, up from 11.1% the previous quarter. Student loan debt is now higher than all other types of non-mortgage debt, which remains 69% of all Americans' total borrowing.

 The growth in student debt, with its monthly cost and high delinquency and default rate, seems to be reducing both household formation and homeownership.- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Because of defaulted payments and tarnished credit scores, people with student loan debt are increasingly less able to buy a home, the report says. A 2014 report suggested that student debt may have been responsible for the loss of $83 billion in home sales.