Debt: Professional Degree Recipients

Nearly 80 percent of students who earned professional degrees in 2015–16 borrowed to fund their graduate studies. The average debt level among borrowers was almost $150,000. Asian professional degree students borrowed at a much lower rate (65.6 percent), but borrowed on average more than both White and Hispanic or Latino borrowers—$153,372.

Borrowing Rates Among Professional Degree Recipients, by Race and Ethnicity: 2015-16
Cumulative Debt for Graduate Study: Professional Degree Recipients, by Race and Ethnicity: 2015-16

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

Notes:
Estimate suppressed for American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and students of more than one race due to small sample size.

Data for cumulative debt of Black professional degree recipients should be interpreted with caution. Ratio of standard error to estimate is >30 percent but <50 percent.

Cumulative debt of professional degree recipients shows the average amount borrowed per borrower.