Total Student Loan Debt Reached $1.3 Trillion in 2016

Student loan debt hit $1.3 trillion by the end of 2016, an increase of 170 percent over debt totals in 2006, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported earlier this year.

“The key factors contributing to these rising balances are that: more students are taking out loans, the loans are for larger amounts, and the speed with which borrowers repay their debts has slowed down,” the New York Fed said.

The information was contained in a Fed press briefing in April that focused on household borrowing and student debt.

Other findings related to student debt:

• 2015 college graduates with student loans leave school with about $34,000 in debt, up almost 70 percent from 10 years ago.
• About 5 percent of the borrowers owed more than $100,000 in 2016, but they accounted for about 30 percent of the total debt.