Is $100,000 in student debt a lot?
Only a small percentage—about 6% of borrowers—owe $100,000 or more. Nationally, the average student loan balance per borrower is $39,032, so if you have $100,000 in student loan debt, you have about 2.5 times the national average balance. But your loan principal is just one part of the problem.
The length of time to reapy $100,000 in student debt is going to depend on your interest rate and what you're paying on the loan monthly. For example, in order to repay $100,000 with an average of 6% interest over 20 years you would need to pay $716.43 per month.
It's never too early to look into your student loan options
Depending on your field of study and career prospects, borrowing upwards of $100,000 to fund that degree could be either a smart investment or a big mistake.
One practical solution is Debt consolidation, which involves taking out a new loan at a lower interest rate to pay off multiple high-interest Debts. This can simplify your financial obligations and potentially reduce the amount you pay in interest.
20% of borrowers owe between $10,000 and $20,000. 21% of borrowers owe between $20,000 and $40,000. 18% of borrowers owe between $40,000 and $100,000. 7% of borrowers owe $100,000 or more.
A total college debt of $120,000 would put you well, well into the top 1% of borrowers for an undergraduate degree. In fact, it would be hard to even accomplish this; you'd have to use Parent PLUS loans or private loans (for which you'd need to qualify) or both.
Borrowers who have reached 20 or 25 years (240 or 300 months) worth of eligible payments for IDR forgiveness will see their loans forgiven as they reach these milestones. ED will continue to discharge loans as borrowers reach the required number of months for forgiveness.
| State | Average student loan debt |
|---|---|
| California | $37,211 |
| South Carolina | $36,981 |
| North Carolina | $36,885 |
| Delaware | $36,776 |
The average medical school debt is over $200,000, a hefty amount of debt to carry at the start of your career. The expected payoff schedule is over 20 years, and during that time, you'll be paying the equivalent of an extra mortgage payment to make progress on the loan.
If you have too much student loan debt, you won't be able to save as much for retirement. Student loan debt can lower your credit score, especially if you fail to make on-time payments. Student debts may be forgiven under certain circ*mstances, but almost never if they are in default.
How to pay $20,000 in debt in 6 months?
- Make a Budget and Stick to It. You must know where your money goes each month, full stop. ...
- Cut Unnecessary Spending. Remember that budget I mentioned? ...
- Sell Your Extra Stuff. The pandemic was great for cleaning out my closet and home office. ...
- Make More Money. ...
- Be Happy With What You Have. ...
- Final Thoughts.
2.5% of the balance (including interest): It would take over 53.5 years — or 643 months — to pay off $10,000 making only minimum payments. You'll pay a total of $38,218.97 in interest over this period.
To pay off $30,000 in credit card debt within 36 months, you will need to pay $1,087 per month, assuming an APR of 18%. You would incur $9,116 in interest charges during that time, but you could avoid much of this extra cost and pay off your debt faster by using a 0% APR balance transfer credit card.
Student loan debt for Gen Z
As of 2023, the average Gen Z borrower has an outstanding student loan balance of $24,473. 66.7% of older Gen Zers had $20,000 or less in student debt in 2022.
The rise and fall of interest rates are also a logical factor. According to the Federal Reserve, 30-39 year-olds have an average student loan debt of $42,748. 40-49-year-olds possess an average student loan debt of $44,864. Borrowers 24 and younger owe an average of $14,563 in student loan debt.
Black women owe a disproportionate amount of student debt. They hold 43% more undergraduate debt and nearly 99% more graduate school debt than their white woman counterparts 12 months after graduation, according to an April 2022 study by the nonprofit organization The Education Trust.
In reality, they can be both. Good student loan debt could deliver a college degree to help you climb the career ladder. Bad student loan debt can leave you ill-equipped for repayment, harming your finances for years to come.
The average student loan debt owed per borrower is $28,950, so $80K is a larger-than-average sum. However, paying off your balance is possible. Since payments on an $80,000 balance can be high, extending the repayment term to lower monthly payments may be tempting.
Data Summary. The average federal student loan payment is about $302 for bachelor's and $208 for associate degree-completers. The average monthly repayment for master's degree-holders is about $688.
Do student loans go away after 7 years? While negative information about your student loans may disappear from your credit reports after seven years, the student loans will remain on your credit reports — and in your life — until you pay them off.
What happens if you don't pay off student loans in 25 years?
What happens if you don't pay off student loans in 25 years? Any remaining balance on your student loans will be forgiven after 25 years of payments. But be cautious: You may be required to pay income tax on the forgiven amount.
Failing to pay your student loans can have devastating financial consequences. Eventually, your student loans will be put into default and you may lose federal loan benefits, have your wages garnished, get barred from federal student aid among other consequences. Your loan holder may sue you, as well.
Based on data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the U.S. Census Bureau (based on 2022 and 2021 data respectively), it can be calculated that each American household carries an average of $7,951 in credit card debt in a year.
Americans own $1.77 trillion in federal and private student loan debt as of the second quarter of 2023. That's up 1.25% from the second quarter of 2022. $128.77 billion of that total through March 31, 2023, is private student loan debt.
Around 23% of Americans are debt free, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Reserve. That figure factors in every type of debt, from credit card balances and student loans to mortgages, car loans and more.
