Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Student Loan Debt Has Ripple Effect for Borrowers Across Income Levels

According to a new report from Consumer Reports and The Center for Investigative Reporting, 42 million consumers owe a combined $1.3 trillion in student loan debt, and many of those consumers say their college education wasn’t worth the expense based upon factors such as the amount of debt, income and employment status.
Consumer Reports conducted a survey of 1,500 consumers with student loan debt. Overall, 45 percent of respondents who are no longer in college and paying student loans say it wasn’t worth it, according to a news release.
Of those respondents:
  • 38 percent didn’t graduate from their college;
  • 69 percent reported trouble paying their loans;
  • 78 percent have income of less than $50,000 per year; and
  • 43 percent didn’t have their parents’ input on financial aid decisions.
More than half of the respondents (51 percent) said they have had a problem making a monthly payment at least once. That group is more likely to have higher student debt and a lower annual salary.  Also, 76 percent of consumers with debt who said they did not graduate said they had problems keeping up with payments, according to the survey. More info here.

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