Over two recent decades, older students drastically increased the rates at which they borrowed for college, according to data released on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education. They are also racking up higher debts.
The data, gathered through the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study from the 1995-96 to 2015-16 academic years, showed higher borrowing rates among undergraduates 30 and older who completed or expected to complete their college program.
More than 20 years ago, students 30 and older borrowed at lower rates than younger students did.
That picture has almost completely changed. Students in that age group now borrow at rates roughly similar to those of students ages 24 to 29 — an increase for the oldest undergraduates (50 and older) of 45 percentage points from 1995 to 2015. Rates for students under 30 rose by seven percentage points at most.
Students age 50 or older also borrowed almost six times more than students in that age cohort borrowed in 1995-96, an increase from $2,500 to $14,000.
The new data follow a report released in May by AARP, which showed “alarming” growth in student-loan debt for Americans age 50 and older. That group now owes about 20 percent of the country’s $1.6 trillion student-debt load.
The report showed other phenomena at work: Besides financing their own education, older Americans were taking out or cosigning loans for family members. When the family members defaulted, it left the older borrowers on the hook for student debt, endangering their retirement plans.
Debt balances had grown the most for older borrowers, AARP found, and defaults also increased with age.
Some colleges are coming around to the idea that “27 is the new 18,” and have focused more attention on adult learners, in some cases to offset slower growth in tuition revenues from other demographic groups. A growing number of states, like Indiana, Tennessee, and West Virginia, have begun re-enrollment programs to encourage adults to come back to college and finish their degrees.
Leaders in the effort have told The Chronicle that colleges need to think more broadly about older students’ financial and educational needs, including child-care programs and access to public benefits — and even assisting some students with resolving defaults on old student loans.
Follow Steven Johnson on Twitter at @stetyjohn, or email him at steve.johnson@chronicle.com.
