Amid recent reports that cost is the most important factor in choosing a college, the New America Foundation has found that much of the student loan debt may be a result of rising graduate and professional degree tuition, and not undergraduate fees.
“Around 40 percent of recent federal loan disbursements are for graduate student debt, suggesting that a large chunk of the ubiquitous ‘$1 trillion in outstanding federal student debt,’ number is, in fact, graduate debt,” the foundation reported.
“Debt for graduate students in a range of master’s and professional degree programs accounts for some of the most dramatic increases in student borrowing between 2004 and 2012,” according to a report from the organization.
Other findings, however, show that just because someone borrows a large chunk of money does not mean that they will have to repay it all.
“Substantial new debt relief and assistance programs exist, in the form of income-based repayment plans and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs, which transfer large portions of graduate debt burdens from students to taxpayers,” the report said.
