Total Outstanding Federal Student Debt

Federal student debt has increased from $516 billion in 2007 to $1.5 trillion in 2023. The average federal student loan debt balance is approximately $38,000 per borrower.

(Please use a modern browser to see the interactive version of this visualization)

This federal student loan portfolio includes Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), and Perkins Loans with outstanding balances.

Chart: Cultural Currents InstituteSource: National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)Get the dataCreated with Datawrapper