Federal student loan debt statistics in New Jersey

• New Jersey residents owe a total of $42.5 billion in student loan debts
• This is the 11th largest total debt of all 50 states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico
• And the average debt per borrower of $35,434 is the 21st largest average student debt per borrower in the country – $2,353 below the national average
• A total of 1.199 million people in New Jersey hold student debt making New Jersey the state with the  11th highest number of borrowers in the country. 
• This is only 12.94% of the population of New Jersey – making New Jersey the state with the 22nd most student loan borrowers per capita.
• Of these borrowers, 59.50% are under the age of 35 – the 4th highest in the country.

How much student loan debt does the average New Jersey resident have?

• The average student loan debt for borrowers who are New Jersey residents is $35,434
• This makes New Jersey the state with the 11th-largest average student loan debt 
• The average student debt in New Jersey is $2,353 below the national average of $37,721
• Within this average, the amount owed by New Jersey residents varies greatly:
  • 15.20% of borrowers owe less than $5k
  • 22.90% of borrowers owe between $20k and $40k
  • 2.30% of borrowers owe more than $200k

How much do New Jersey residents borrow each year?

• 37% of New Jersey undergraduate students take out federal student loans – this is the 25th highest in the country
• For those at 2-year colleges, 16.20% of students chose to take student loans – that’s 34th in the country
• They were approved to get $6,022 per year on average
• This is the 14th most per student at 2-year colleges of any state
• More students at 4-year schools take out student loans – 50.40% receive student loans
• This is 10th most out of the 50 states and DC. 
• These students are awarded $7,385 per year on average – ranking 4th in the country behind only Mississippi, Arizona and Connecticut

State-level financial aid for students in New Jersey 

• New Jersey is the state that spends the 7th most state funds on financial aid for students
• In total, New Jersey spends $637 million on state-level financial aid programs per year
• This works out at around 0.33% of the gross state product (GSP)
• While New Jersey has the nation’s 7th largest budget for student financial aid, it only ranks 40th as a percentage of GSP
• This works out at around $2,038 per undergraduate student in the state – the 5th most of any state in the country
• Just over $478.5 million is distributed to students in the form of grants meaning that none of this amount is repaid. 
• The remaining $158.5 million is distributed between some other programs – some of which may be due to be repaid.