President Joe Biden made news on Aug. 24 when he announced his plan to erase some of the student loan debt hanging over many current and former college attendees.
Biden’s announcement comes as the price of higher education continues to increase. Last year, The Business Journals’ analysis of disclosures from the Department of Education found that the top 25 most expensive colleges in the country increased the total cost of attendance by an average of 37% over the past decade. Wages have not kept up.
Soaring prices mean that university and college attendees often walk away with debt. According to Department of Education estimates cited in the White House’s press release, the typical undergraduate with loans has about $25,000 in debt to their name upon graduation.
Data from U.S. News & World Report, which surveyed institutes of higher education across the nation in the spring and summer of 2022 and published a series of reports, shows that the typical graduate from certain universities and colleges in Colorado walks away with less debt than the national average — and the typical attendee of other institutions can wind up with much more.
>Click through the slideshow to see colleges in Colorado, listed from lowest to highest according to the median student debt with which attendees graduate.
The slideshow also includes tuition prices before scholarships and financial aid, according to U.S. News research. Public schools list both in-state and out-of-state tuition. Private schools, on the other hand, charge the same tuition regardless of residency.
School categories are also included in the slideshow. U.S. News & World’s Report definitions of these categories are listed here:
The details of Biden’s student debt relief plan
The plan, which was enacted via executive order, has three parts. The first is a final extension of the pandemic-era student loan repayment pause until January 2023, when repayments will restart.
Part two — perhaps the most talked-about part of the order — is the forgiveness of $10,000 worth of student loan debt for any borrower with an income lower than $125,000 (or $250,000 for households). Pell Grant recipients qualify for up to $20,000 of debt forgiveness.
Rounding out the trio is a series of changes that will reduce monthly payments, including lowering the percentage of discretionary income individuals are required to pay on their loans from 10% to 5%.
According to an estimate from the U.S. Department of Education, these changes could benefit as many as 43 million borrowers, including roughly 27 million who the department predicts will be eligible for $20,000 worth of relief.
The processing of applications for federal student loan debt relief is currently paused due to a court order, but the application itself is still open. It will close on Dec. 31, 2023.
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