60% students borrow annually to cover costs

Nearly 20 million Americans attend college each year.

Of that 20 million, close to 12 million – or 60% – borrow annually to help cover costs.

There are approximately 37 million student loan borrowers with outstanding student loans today.

As of the first Quarter of 2012, the under 30 age group has the most borrowers at 14 million, followed by 10.6 million for the 30-39 group, 5.7 million in the 40-49 category, 4.6 million in the 50-59 age group and the over 60 category with the least number of borrowers at 2.2 million for an overall total of 37.1 million.

There is roughly somewhere between $902 billion and $1 trillion in total outstanding student loan debt in the United States today. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports $902B while the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau reports $1T.

Roughly $864 billion is outstanding federal student loan debt while the remaining $150 billion is in private student loans. Private student loans are not made or backed by the federal government.

As of Quarter 1 in 2012, the average student loan balance for all age groups is $24,301.
About one-quarter of borrowers owe more than $28,000; 10% of borrowers owe more than $54,000; 3% owe more than $100,000; and less than 1%, or 167,000 people, owe more than $200,000.