How Student Loan Debt Affects Women

The American Association of University Women heads up a comprehensive survey each year that looks closely at the status of women and student loan debt. The survey often reveals sobering findings, and the 2021 update is no different.

According to this most recent report, women owe about two-thirds of the nation’s $1.7 trillion in outstanding student loans.

Women of color carry a disproportionate burden. The study, Deeper in Debt: Women & Student Loans, reports that Black women have about 20% more student loan debt than white women. Researchers found that one year after graduation, Black women on average owe more than other women with undergraduate student loans, an average of $41,466 compared with $38,747 for Pacific Islander and Hawaiian women, $36,184 for American Indian and Alaska Native women, $33,852 for white women, $29,302 for Hispanic women and $27,607 for Asian women.