Is educational debt a significant source of debt for American households?

As of the first quarter of 2021, student loan debt is the highest non-housing debt category for Americans, totaling $1.58 trillion. This category has remained one of the highest since the beginning of the 2010s, followed closely by auto loan debt. Between 2007 and 2020, student loan debt more than tripled to over $1.5 trillion. More than half of U.S. undergraduates rely on federal student loans to finance college, and student debt was the most significant source of non-mortgage debt for American households in 2020. Furthermore, while U.S. college attendance rates increased steadily between 1990 and 2020, the percentage of students completing a bachelor’s degree by age 25 did not. This is a major issue for borrowers since college dropouts are much more likely to default on their loans.