Average Combined Debt for Master’s Degree Recipients
For master’s degree recipients with debt, the majority of their debt (61.6 percent) was accumulated during their graduate study. Across all racial and ethnic groups, the average combined undergraduate and graduate debt per student was $39,661. Black or African American master’s degree recipients had the highest average combined debt among all groups ($68,959 per student), followed by Hispanic or Latino students ($49,259 per student), while students of more than one race had the lowest average combined debt per student at $36,191.
Report Links
Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education: A Status Report
Chapter Eight: How Students Finance Graduate Study
Chapter Eight Report Download (PDF) 2.9 MB
Chapter Eight Data Tables Download (XLSX) 91 KB
Source
U.S. Department of Education, National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 2016
Note:
Estimate suppressed for American Indian or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students due to small sample size.
