Federal student loan debt statistics in Michigan

• Michigan residents owe a total of $51 billion in student loan debts
• This is the 9th largest total debt of all 50 states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico
• And the average debt per borrower of $36,116 is the 19th largest average student debt per borrower in the country – $1,671below the national average
• A total of 1.412 million people in Michigan hold student debt making Michigan the state with the  9th highest number of borrowers in the country. 
• This is only 14.05% of the population of Michigan – making Michigan the state with the 8th most student loan borrowers per capita.
• Of these borrowers, 52.00% are under the age of 35.

How much student loan debt does the average Michigan resident have?

• The average student loan debt for borrowers who are Michigan residents is $36,116
• This makes Michigan the state with the 19th-largest average student loan debt 
• The average student debt in Michigan is $1,671 below the national average of $37,721
• Within this average, the amount owed by Michigan residents varies greatly:
  • 16.00% of borrowers owe less than $5k
  • 21.60% of borrowers owe between $20k and $40k
  • 2.00% of borrowers owe more than $200k

How much do Michigan residents borrow each year?

• 38.90% of Michigan undergraduate students take out federal student loans – this is the 19th highest in the country
• For those at 2-year colleges, 17.90% of students chose to take student loans – that’s 31st in the country
• They were approved to get $4,715 per year on average
• This is the 41st most per student at 2-year colleges of any state
• More students at 4-year schools take out student loans – 47.80% receive student loans
• This is 19th most out of the 50 states and DC. 
• These students are awarded $6,831 per year on average – ranking 24th in the country.

State-level financial aid for students in Michigan 

• Michigan is the state that spends the 27th most state funds on financial aid for students
• In total, Michigan spends $121.6 million on state-level financial aid programs per year
• This works out at around 0.36% of the gross state product (GSP)
• While Michigan has the nation’s 27th largest budget for student financial aid, it only ranks 35th as a percentage of GSP
• This works out at around $334 per undergraduate student in the state – the 39th most of any state in the country
• Just over $120.5 million is distributed to students in the form of grants meaning that none of this amount is repaid. 
• The remaining $1.1 million is distributed between some other programs – some of which may be due to be repaid.