Student Debt Rises by 8% as College Tuitions Climb
Americans are borrowing more to pay for college while reducing other debt as a weak job market prompts more people to go to school and tuition keeps climbing, new Federal Reserve Bank of New York data show.</br></br>Americans owed $904 billion in student loans at the end of March, nearly 8% more than a year ago, the New York Fed said Thursday in a quarterly report on consumer credit. That compares with the $679 billion they owed on credit cards at the end of the first quarter.</br></br>Between the fourth quarter of 2008, when credit-card debt peaked, and the first quarter of 2012, this borrowing fell by $187 billion, or 21.6%, the Fed said. Over the same period, student-loan debt rose by 41.4%, or $264 billion.</br></br>Americans are reducing their overall debt burden, a process known as deleveraging that began with the financial crisis. Total household debt--including mortgage, student, credit-card and auto loans--has fallen by roughly 10% since borrowing peaked in mid-2008. It stood at $11.44 trillion as of March 31, the New York Fed said.</br></br>Mortgage borrowing is down significantly, the consequence of foreclosures, falling home values, tighter lending standards and weak home sales.