Black College Grads More Likely to Graduate With Debt

From [HERE] Half of 2000-2014 black college graduates in the U.S. report graduating with more than $25,000 in undergraduate student loan debt. By comparison, 34% of recent white graduates report similar levels of debt, revealing a large borrowing gap between the races.

In total, just over a fifth of recent black college graduates (22%) report leaving school with no debt, about half the rate among white college graduates (39%). About three in 10 recent black college graduates (28%) and the same percentage of whites say they borrowed up to $25,000. Overall, 35% of 2000-2014 U.S. college graduates report graduating with more than $25,000 in student debt, in inflation-adjusted dollars.

These results are based on the inaugural Gallup-Purdue Index, a joint research effort with Purdue University and Lumina Foundation to study the relationship between the college experience and college graduates' lives. The Gallup-Purdue Index is a comprehensive, nationally representative study of U.S. college graduates with Internet access, conducted Feb. 4-March 7, 2014. According to a 2013 Census Bureau report, 90% of college graduates in the U.S. have access to the Internet.

The student loan debt figures on which this analysis is based are reported by those responding to the survey and are adjusted for inflation to today's dollars. Figures only apply to undergraduate student loan debt. Gallup did not ask respondents about the current status of their student debt or how much of their loan they had repaid at the time of the interview. [MORE]