TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Federal Reserve reports that as of November 2022, there is close to $1.8 trillion in student debt across the United States. Federal data from the Department of Education shows Florida, California, and Texas are the three states with the highest balances due.
In Florida alone, $102.8 billion in student debt belongs to borrowers living in the state, roughly 2.64 million people, according to USDOE data as of June, the most recent data available. Compared to California and Texas, Florida has the lowest number of borrowers among the three, and the least student debt.
However, three of those states, among the most populous in the country, are the only ones with more than $100 billion in student debt. The next lowest state is New York, which had $93.6 billion in student debt for its 2.4 million borrowers, as of June.
Nationally, the Federal Reserve says there is $1.76 trillion in student debt nationally.
| Quarter | Debt Amount | Change by Quarter |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2022 | $1,768,809,060,000 | +$23,439,750,000 |
| Q2 2022 | $1,745,369,310,000 | -$2,086,200,000 |
| Q1 2022 | $1,747,455,510,000 | +$14,040,330,000 |
| Q4 2021 | $1,733,415,180,000 | -$6,028,650,000 |
| Q3 2021 | $1,739,443,830,000 | +$20,376,330,000 |
| Q2 2021 | $1,719,067,500,000 | +$360,950,000 |
| Q1 2021 | $1,718,706,550,000 |
In the third quarter of 2021, there was $1.74 trillion in student debt, meaning roughly $29.4 billion was added over the past year. Just quarter-to-quarter, student borrowers gained an additional $23.4 billion, according to federal data. The data shows some quarters did have multibillion-dollar decreases in overall student debt.
The total of student debt and the number of borrowers and debt by state are issued in quarterly reports by the federal government. The next data will be released in 2023, which will cover the fourth quarter data for 2022.
Still, the debt per year continues to grow, as tuition costs increase across the country. While President Joe Biden has pushed for new relief strategies and forgiveness plans, they’re still tied up in court. Previous plans to unfreeze repayments in January have been pushed off to June 2023 as the relief plan is fought over in court.
An analysis of recent student loan data by MyCreditSummit.com showed on average, student borrowers had about $40,000 in loan debt after graduation. According to their data study, average monthly payments are $460. The report said it expects tuition to continue rising, as much as 8% each year.
MyCreditSummit describes student debt as the “fastest-growing debt in the U.S.,” and the second biggest portion of household debt, with only mortgage debt being higher.
Overall, household debt across the U.S. remains on an upward trend amid inflationary pressures and other economic hurdles.
“Total household debt balances continued their upward climb in the third quarter of 2022 with an increase of $351 billion, the largest nominal quarterly increase since 2007,” the Federal Reserve reported. “There was $633 billion in newly originated mortgage debt in Q3 2022. After two years of historically high volumes of mortgage originations, the Q3 volume more closely resembles pre-pandemic volumes.”
An accompanying federal debt report showed all debt types had increases in delinquent payments on outstanding debt, after “two years of historically low delinquency transitions.” While student debt grew, the report said delinquency levels were lower for student debt, reflecting “continued repayment pause” on the loans.
Separately, EducationData, which tracks and analyzes student debt levels, reported “The total national student loan debt increased 1.53% YoY in the second financial quarter of 2022, the lowest rate of increase in the 21st century.” Their data showed almost 32% of all students take on federal loans for their degrees.
