Student Debt | Private Loan Publications and Resources

Reports & Fact Sheets

Private Loans: Facts and Trends

April 2019

Private loans are one of the riskiest ways to finance a college education. Like credit cards, they usually have variable interest rates that are higher for those who can least afford them. Analysis of federal data from 2015-16 reveals that less than half of private loan borrowers use the maximum amount of more affordable federal loans.