Student debt owed by Americans rose to nearly $1.2 trillion in the first quarter of 2015, a new record high, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Tuesday.
The total amount of outstanding student loans was up $32 billion in the quarter, and $78 billion over the past year.
While college loan balances continued to grow, there was a slight decrease in delinquency to start 2015. The total amount of debt delinquent by over 90 days or in default fell slightly, from 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter.
The New York Fed’s data is taken from a nationally representative sample of credit data drawn from the credit reporting company Equifax.
Taken together, all forms of consumer credit showed almost no growth in the first quarter, thanks mostly to flat mortgage balances. Although growth in home loans was slow, there were also fewer delinquencies on mortgages, and the number of foreclosures marked on credit reports was the fewest in the 16 years the data has been tracked.
“Tight standards on mortgage lending are reflected in both sluggish growth in housing debt as well as substantial reductions in mortgage delinquency and defaults,” New York Fed economist Andrew Haughwout said in releasing the data.
The growth of student loan debt has been a particular concern in the wake the financial crisis, as total student loan balances have doubled since the official start of the recession in late 2007 and eclipsed all forms of consumer debt other than mortgages, including car loans and credit card balances. The New York Fed’s estimate is just one of several government tallies of the total amount of student debt. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors, for instance, placed total student debt at over $1.35 trillion in its most recent data release, based on financial institution data.
Delinquencies on student loans have also surged since the beginning of the recession, from 7.4 percent to over 11 percent. That statistics, however, likely understates the true repayment problems facing recent student borrowers, as many recent borrowers are among the most likely to struggle to pay their debts but are still in school, in deferral, or in another program that allows them to postpone payments.
