CFPB - Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
11/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/13/2024 09:16
Insights from the 2023-2024 Student Loan Borrower Survey
This report provides initial survey findings related to student loan borrowers' difficulties with repayment and the make-up of borrowers applying for and receiving loan forgiveness and discharges. The survey was fielded between October 2023 and January 2024, as the payment pause on federal student loans ended and many borrowers were returning to repayment. Key findings include:
A majority of student loan borrowers report difficulty with their student loan payments and more than one in three have missed a payment.
- 63 percent of borrowers reported ever having difficulty making their student loan payments and 37 percent have missed at least one payment, with significantly higher rates for Black and Hispanic borrowers, Pell Grant recipients, and for those with less than a four-year degree.
- The COVID-19 payment pause provided meaningful relief, but many borrowers reported they had little confidence that they could afford their student loan payments when the federal student loan payment pause ended.
Borrowers who are struggling are especially likely to reach out for help, but many do not have enough information about or have difficulty accessing income-driven repayment (IDR) plan options that could benefit them.
- 42 percent of borrowers report only ever being on the standard repayment plan for their federal student loans, and an additional 21 percent do not know if they have ever chosen a repayment plan.
- Among the borrowers who have only been on the standard repayment plan, 31 percent report not knowing they could choose a different plan, and 14 percent report needing help or more information to choose a plan. These shares are largest for borrowers with lower incomes who would likely benefit the most from enrollment in IDR.
Nearly 1-in-10 surveyed federal student loan borrowers reported that they had a loan discharged, cancelled, or forgiven.
- The median household income for student loan borrowers who reported receiving debt relief was between $50,000 and $65,000 in 2022, relative to the national median of nearly $75,000 in 2022. But borrowers' finances vary across debt relief programs.
- Though the amount of debt relief varies widely, 61 percent of borrowers reported that debt relief had allowed them to make a beneficial change in their life sooner than they otherwise would have.