Racial and Ethnic Differences in Family Student Loan Debt

Abstract

Rising student debt is an important topic for academics and policymakers, but we know little about loans that finance a family member’s education expenses. This study shows that 7 percent of Americans ages 25 to 55 have taken on debt to finance their child’s or grandchild’s education. In addition, we find that while blacks are substantially more likely to obtain debt for their own education, there are no systematic racial differences in debt to finance a family member’s education expenses.