Student Credit & Debt Statistics

Student Credit Cards

• 91% of undergraduates have at least one credit card, up from 76% in the same study conducted in 2004.  The average number of cards has grown to 4.6, with half of college students having four or more cards. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards: Sallie Mae's National Study of Usage Rates and Trends 2009")


• The average undergrad carries $3,173 in credit card debt, the highest since the study began. The average senior will graduate with $4,100 in credit card debt, up 41% from the same study conducted in 2004.   (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards: Sallie Mae's National Study of Usage Rates and Trends 2009")


• 92% of undergraduates use credit cards to pay for educational expenses and 30% admitted to using their credit cards to pay for college tuition. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards: Sallie Mae's National Study of Usage Rates and Trends 2009")


• Graduates will amass almost $20,000 in student loan debt. (Source: Nellie Mae, "Undergraduate Students and Credit Cards in 2004: An Analysis of Usage Rates and Trends")


• 25% of the students surveyed in US PIRG's 2008 Campus Credit Card Trap report said that they have paid a late fee, and 15 percent have paid an "over the limit" fee. (Source: U.S. PIRG, "Campus Credit Card Trap")

Cost of College

• The cost of tuition at a private four-year university was $25,143 in 2008 (up 5.9% from 2007). The cost of tuition at a public four-year university was $6,585 in 2008 (up 6.4% from 2007). (Source: The College Board)


• According to a 2007 College Board Study, people with a bachelor's degree earn over 60% more than those with only a high school diploma? Over a lifetime, the gap in earning potential between a high school diploma and a B.A. is more than $800,000. (Source: The College Board, “Education Pays”)

Student Debt Issues

• 7.2% of students drop out of college due to debt and/or financial pressures. (Source: Duck 9)


• People in the 18 to 24 age bracket spend nearly 30% of their monthly income just on debt repayment - double the percentage spent in 1992 (10% of net income is a recommended amount for debt obligation). (Source: Center for Responsible Lending)

Financial Literacy

• A 1997 study sponsored by the Jump$tart Coalition found that high school students lack an understanding of basic personal finance concepts. On average, survey participants answered 57% of the questions correctly. Only 10% of respondents said they learned about personal finance at school, while 60% learned at home. (Source: Jump$tart Coalition)


• In 2007, a survey on teens and money reported that only 45% of teens know how to use a credit card, while just 26% understood credit-card interest and fees. (Source: Charles Schwab)


• 84% of undergraduates admitted the need for more financial management education. Of these, 64% would have preferred some type of financial literacy education in high school and 40% as college freshman. (Source: Sallie Mae, "How Undergraduate Students Use Credit Cards: Sallie Mae's National Study of Usage Rates and Trends 2009")