The Effect of the Great Recession on Student Loan Borrowing and Repayment

Michel Grosz () and Tomás Monarrez
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Tomás Monarrez: https://www.philadelphiafed.org/our-people/tomas-e-monarrez

No 25-13, Working Papers from Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Abstract: We study the long-term effect of the Great Recession on federal student loan borrowing and repayment. Using detailed longitudinal data on federal student loan borrowers, we compare labor markets that faced varying degrees of unemployment severity during the economic downturn. On average, a one percentage point increase in Great Recession unemployment rates caused a 7% rise in total outstanding debt and 6% percent rise in defaulted borrowers. Across institutional sectors, the Great Recession accounted on average for between 19-32% of the total increase in undergraduate student debt and 10 25% of the total increase in defaults. Borrowers who were students at the onset of the recession saw the largest effects on accrued debt, due to delayed graduation and lengthened enrollment spells

Keywords: student loans; Great Recession; unemployment; higher education finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G51 H81 I22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 59
Date: 2025-04-14
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DOI: 10.21799/frbp.wp.2025.13

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