Missouri Student Loan Debt and Financial Aid Statistics

Missouri Student Loan Debt and Financial Aid Statistics

Federal student loan debt statistics in Missouri

  • Missouri has the 18th largest total student loan debt in the country — this places Missouri between Indiana and Colorado
  • Residents of the state owe a total of $29.5 billion
  • This works out to an average of $35,397 per borrower
  • Currently, 833,400 Missouri residents still have some kind of student loan debt – this makes Missouri the state with the 18th most student loan borrowers
  • Missouri has the 15th highest percentage of student loan borrowers per capita with 13.51% of the state’s population carrying student loan debt
  • Just over half (50.30%) of the borrowers in Missouri are under the age of 35

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

  • On average, a Missouri resident with student loan debt owes $35,397
  • This is the 22nd-highest average in the country 
  • It is $2,390 below the national average of $37,787
  • 15.50% of borrowers from Missouri owe less than $5,000
  • 22.10% owe between $20,000 and $40,000
  • 1.80% owe more than $200,000 in student loan debt

How much do Missouri residents borrow each year?

  • 36.70% of undergraduates in Missouri choose to take student loans each year
  • For students at 2-year colleges, 19.10% of students take student loans and are awarded an average of $4,086 each.
  • This is the 2nd lowest average loan amount per student in the country after Nebraska
  • 43.50% of students at 4-year colleges take students loans at an average amount of $6,938
  • $6,938 per year per student at 4-year colleges is the 15th most of all the states

State-level financial aid for students in Missouri

  • $128.9 million of Missouri state funds is spent on student financial aid each year
  • This is the 25th largest amount of all the states in the country
  • Missouri also spends the 25th most per undergraduate student at $594 each
  • However, Missouri comes 44th when you look at spending as a percentage of GSP at 0.29%
  • $68.3 million of the $128.9 million Missouri spends each year on financial aid is distributed through grants that do not need to be re-paid.
  • $60.6 million is distributed through other means – some of which may be loans that are due to be re-paid in the future