Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Student Debt: America’s $1 Trillion Time Bomb

Healthcare. Pension obligations. Student loans? A new report from Barclays helps illuminate the degree to which student-loan debt is becoming one of America’s structural challenges.
To be sure, the firm noted that it doesn’t yet view rising levels of debt for the typical graduate as “a major issue for macroeconomic performance,” noting average debt burdens for those attending a public four-year college have risen by only $2,000 per borrower since 2000.
Still, there is increasing concern in particular about the share of debt held by students who don’t end up graduating and by older Americans, including retirees.
Further, Barclays warns the fiscal burden of defaults and income-based subsidization through 2020 is currently being underestimated by at least $225 billion.
While the actual amount of student-loan debt outstanding still has not been precisely pinned down, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau has said it passed $1 trillion by the end of last year, and is due out with further detail by July 21. The Federal Reserve, which has separately estimated the total as at least $870 billion as of 2011, may also release a further study this summer. 

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