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It’s time to focus on the big regulatory issues impacting US higher education again, with the expected (re)release of TPS guidance and upcoming decisions on Gainful Employment and Financial Transparency coming up soon.
New ED Report on Graduate Student Loans
(trying very hard not to frame this as I told you so or you read it here first . . . but . . . I’m too weak)
The US Department of Education (ED) released a new report late last week titled “Trends in Federal Student Loans for Graduate School.” The report rightly calls out the growing role of graduate programs - particularly masters degree - in rising student loan disbursements over time.
After a steep rise over the early 2000s and an explosion in the Great Recession, average undergraduate loan volume has declined steadily, mirroring a fall in enrollment particularly pronounced among community colleges and for-profit institutions. Total undergraduate disbursements were nearly $80 billion in 2010, and by 2021 they had fallen to $45 billion (all dollar figures in 2020 dollars). Over the same period, graduate federal student loan disbursements grew sharply from 1996 to 2011, but largely held steady at about $40 billion annually for the following decade. If these trends continue, graduate loan disbursements may exceed undergraduate disbursements in the next few years.
Talk about burying one of the ledes - total federal student loans have been dropping for years. Cumulative debt is rising and getting all the headlines, but student loan disbursements are going down. Use that in a bar bet, and I’m guessing you can win quite a few drinks.
