Study: 64% of student debt is held by women

The burden of student debt is having an outsize impact on women who now hold nearly two thirds of the $1.3 trillion in outstanding education loans, according to a new report from the American Association of University Women.

“It’s important to understand all of the challenges facing women in the United States, and in terms of their economic well-being, student debt is a big one,” said Kevin Miller, senior researcher at the American Association of University Women.

Based on data from the Education Department, Miller and his team estimate that women enrolled in college borrow about 14 percent more on average than men in a given year. Women typically owe $1,500 more than their male counterparts upon completion of a bachelor’s degree, and African American women take on more student debt on average than any other group of women, the study said.

Considering the larger loan amounts that women take on and the fact that they make up more than half of the college population, the study estimates that 64 percent of student debt, or about $833 billion, is held by women. That number may actually be bit higher because the study only looked at graduates, not women who drop out of college or mothers who take out parent loans to help their children pay for school.

The study found that it takes the average woman nearly two years longer to repay student loans than their male counterparts. Researchers suspect that gender wage inequality plays a large role in the disparity in repayment rates.