The expenses or cost of attending college are increasing steadily, and so is the need for student loans or other financial aid.
The Average Student Loan Payment depends on a diverse range of factors such as the type of institution, level of degree, type of loan (private or federal), Repayment plans etc.
To learn more about the Average Student Loan Payment, Go through the article below.
This article will provide you with a complete insight into some interesting and crucial Average Student Loan Payment statistics and the ways to help you lower them.
So without any delay, let’s get started.
Table of Contents
- Average Student Loan Payment: Top Picks
- Average Student Monthly Loan Payment.
- Student Loan Payment As Per The Degree Level.
- Federal Repayment Plan.
- Average Student Loan Payment By Type Of School.
- Private Student Loan Payment.
- Student Loan Debt As Per Different Years.
- How To Lower Your Student Loan Payment?
- Student Loan Forgiveness.
- Conclusion: Average Student Loan Payment (2024)
Average Student Loan Payment: Top Picks
- The average student loan payment for individuals or borrowers who are undergraduates is around $234.
- For master’s degree holders, the average monthly student loan payment is around $570.
- The Federal government shouldered around 92% of overall student loan debt, and 8% was from private institutions. (moneygeek)
- The individuals of the age group 25 to 34 have the maximum number of borrowers (around 15 million) as compared to the age group 35 to 49 having 14.5 million borrowers. (finmasters)
- Combining the private and federal loans, the total student loan debt is around $1.73 trillion. (Forbes ADVISOR)
- The average student loan payment in the year 2016 was around $393. (Education Data Initiative)
Average Student Monthly Loan Payment.
- As per the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the average student loan monthly payment is around $393, and the average student loan debt is around $39,351.
- The median student loan debt was demonstrated to be $19,281.
- The median monthly payment for the student loan debt was demonstrated to be $222.
- It is demonstrated that around 47.5% of the individuals are borrowers with growing loan balances.
Student Loan Payment As Per The Degree Level.
The amount of loan payment differs depending upon the type of degree.
To know the average monthly student loan payment depending on the type of degree, go through the below data.
| Degree Type | Average Cumulative Debt | Average Monthly Student Loan Payment. |
| Associate | $19,270 | $196.29 |
| Bachelor’s | $26,190 | $266.78 |
| Master’s | $50,290 | $567.46 |
| MBA | $50,150 | $565.88 |
| Doctorate | $101,490 | $1,145.18 |
| Law degree | $129,290 | $1,458.87 |
| Medicine degree (MD or DO) | $223,060 | $2,516.94 |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
- The average monthly student loan payment for an Associate degree was $196.29, and the average cumulative debt for federal loans was found to be $19,270.
- Average cumulative debt for the students who completed the master’s degree was demonstrated to be $50,290.
To get more insight into student loan payment as per the type or the level of degree, refer to the following table for the year 2022.
| Type Of Degree | Low-End Monthly Payment | High-End Monthly Payment | Mean Monthly Payment |
| Associate | $281 | $384 | $333 |
| Bachelor’s | $354 | $541 | $448 |
| Master’s | $350 | $1,039 | $695 |
| Doctoral | $575 | $1,844 | $1,210 |
| Professional | $521 | $2,553 | $1,537 |
Source: Education Data Initiative.
Federal Repayment Plan.
Federal student loans provide access to a wide range of options for repayment to help you afford your monthly bills.
Let’s take a quick look at the different federal repayment plans given below.
| Federal Repayment Plan. | Repayment Years. | Monthly Amount. | Total Amount Paid. |
| Standard | 10 | $613 | $73,583 |
| Graduated | 10 | $344 at the start and increases up to $1,032. | $76,980 |
| Income-based | 20 | $214 at the start and increases up to $613. | $95,298 |
| Income-Contingent | 13 | $457 at the start and increases up to $531. | $79,107 |
| REPAYE (Revised Pay As You Earn) | 20 | $214 at the start and increases up to $695. | $95,264 |
| PAYE (Pay As You Earn) | 20 | $214 at the start and increases up to $613. | $95,298 |
Source: Forbes ADVISOR.
Average Student Loan Payment By Type Of School.
The average student loan payment is based on multiple variables, and the type of school or institution is one of the crucial variables.
The below table showcases the student loan payment based on the type of institution.
| Type Of Institution. | Average Cumulative Debt. | Average Monthly Student Loan Payment |
| Public institution | $24,650 | $251.10 |
| Private (Non-profit) institution | $27,340 | $278.50 |
| Public (For-profit) institution. | $33,620 | $342.47 |
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
- Students having Bachelor’s degrees from private for-profit institutions have higher student loan payments as compared to public and private non-profit institutions.
Private Student Loan Payment.
Banks, credit unions and academic institutions mainly lend private student loans.
- Around $20,000 to $40,000 are owed by many students as student loan debt.
- 1.2% is the least private student loan interest rate and is only available to one with excellent credit.
- Among the private borrowers, the average income is demonstrated to be $64,900.
Below is the Student loan payment at a high-end and low-end annual percentage rate that you can check out.
Student Loan Payment At High-End APR.
Student Loan Payment at a High-End annual percentage rate is provided below.
| Monthly Payment | Percentage Of Income | Average Debt | Repayment Term | Ultimate Cost |
| $541 | 10% | $15,000 | 2 years, 10 mos. | $18,400 |
| $541 | 10% | $30,000 | 7 years, 8 mos. | $49,900 |
| $541 | 10% | $60,000 | NA | NA |
| $730 | 13,5% | $60,000 | 34 years, 7 mos. | $302,900 |
| $950 | 17.6% | $60,000 | 10 years. | $114,000 |
Student Loan Payment At Low-End APR.
The below table showcases the student loan payment at a low-end annual percentage rate.
| Monthly Payment | Percentage Of Income | Average Debt | Repayment Term | Ultimate Cost |
| $541 | 10% | $15,000 | 2 years, 5 mos. | $15,700 |
| $541 | 10% | $30,000 | 5 years, 1 mos. | $33,100 |
| $541 | 10% | $60,000 | 11 years, 5 mos. | $74,100 |
| $602 | 11.1% | $60,000 | 10 years. | $72,300 |
Student Loan Debt As Per Different Years.
The below table demonstrates student loan debt from the year 2011 to the year 2021.
| Years | Amount | Y-O-Y Change (In Percentage) |
| 2011 | $959,823,950. | 2.72% |
| 2012 | $1,054,565,110. | 3.41% |
| 2013 | $1,145,550,750. | 4.83% |
| 2014 | $1,235,751,470. | 5.48% |
| 2015 | $1,320,248,140. | 5.95% |
| 2016 | $1,405,332,160. | 6.44% |
| 2017 | $1,488,895,490. | 6.84% |
| 2018 | $1,570,539,650. | 7.87% |
| 2019 | $1,646,377,280. | 8.63% |
| 2020 | $1,702,599,570. | 9.87% |
| 2021 | $1,748,851,870. | 12.20% |
Source: Education Data Initiative.
- The Year 2021 demonstrated the highest amount ($1,748,851,870) of student loan debt, with a per cent change of about 12.20%.
How To Lower Your Student Loan Payment?
As we have gone through the Average Student’s Monthly Payments, Now let us take a quick look at how to lower them.
- Consolidate your federal loan plan.
Consolidating or combining all the federal student loans into one will be a perfect option to lower loan payments, and it allows you to have only one monthly loan payment and may help you to be eligible for loan forgiveness.
In order to consolidate the loans, you must have a six-month grace period or loans in repayments. However, one who is still attending college cannot consolidate the loans.
- Refinancing.
Refinancing is one of the options to help you lower your loan payment, where you can let a private lender pay off your loan and then lend you a private loan to pay off what you owe them.
It is possible to refinance both private and federal loans. In order to be eligible for refinancing, you should have a steady income source and a good credit score.
- Try different repayment plans.
Look for budget-friendly repayment plans to help you lower the monthly payment. The Income-Driven Repayment Plan (IDR) is one of the options that provide access to affordable payment plans.
Student Loan Forgiveness.
There are different student loan forgiveness plans; to know about them, scroll down to the below data.
- Among 2,897,797 total applications, around 233,320 got approved for discharge under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
- The total debt discharged under Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was found to be $14.9 billion.
- The borrower defense to repayment program comprised about 762,800 applications, out of which 190,257 got approved.
- The total and permanent disability discharge program discharged around $9 billion for about 425,000 borrowers.
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Conclusion: Average Student Loan Payment (2024)
Since the past 15 years, the interest rates of federal student loan has fallen, along with that the average student loan payment has also decreased.
Opting for IDR (Income Driven Repayment Plan) would be a great option in order to manage your debt.
To determine how the interest rate, loan balance and terms of repayment have an impact on monthly payments, opt for the use of a student loan calculator.
That’s all for Average Student Loan Payment. Go through the article and share your thoughts on them in the comments section below.
FAQs
On what basis student loan payments are calculated?
The student loan payments are calculated on the basis of the details regarding your loan, such as the amount you borrowed, your repayment plan, interest rate etc. The higher the balance and interest rate, the higher will be your monthly payment.
What is the interest rate applied on the average student loan?
The interest rate applied on the average student loan payment is around 5.8%, and for undergraduate loans, it is around 4.99%.
Are there any income-based repayment plans?
Yes, the federal government has designed some income-based repayment plans for individuals having a low income.
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