New Data Highlight Borrowers’ Perception vs. Reality on Student Loans Since 2023
DENVER—One year following the end of the student loan payment pause, the National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) has collected new data—replicating its in-depth 2023 opinion poll on sentiments about student loans—to compare borrowers’ perceptions of the impact to the actual impact. According to the latest polling, 74% of borrowers with student loan balances say they have had to make budgetary adjustments to make their payments since the end of the pause. This compares to 83% of respondents who anticipated the need to make budgetary adjustments in the 2023 poll. The latest poll also finds that 27% of borrowers say the end of the pause has negatively impacted their lives, compared to 49% of respondents who perceived an impact in 2023.
“We gained excellent insight from last year’s data and knew a follow-up survey with borrowers one year later would offer additional nuance and context to those viewpoints. In comparing the data from the two polls, we better understand the impact borrower planning, new knowledge, interactions with loan providers, policies by the federal government and other changes have had since repayment began. It also seems that some anticipated outcomes, such as the number of borrowers needing to make budgetary adjustments, may not have been as severe.”
Billy Hensley, Ph.D., president and CEO of NEFE
This new opinion poll from NEFE , conducted by SurveyUSA from August 5-7, 2024, asked U.S. adults who have or had student loans about the impact the end of the student loan payment pause had nearly one year after it went into effect. Highlights from this new poll include:
- A breakdown of the 74% of borrowers who say they have had to make budgetary adjustments includes 28% who say they’ve had to cut up to $500 from their monthly budgets, 21% who have had to cut between $500 and $1,000 and 10% who have had to cut more than $1,000.
- 73% of respondents say the end of the pause has not had a negative impact on their lives and 75% say it has not had a negative impact on the U.S. economy.
- 64% of respondents across the political spectrum believe the student loan issue should be part of a major political party platform this election season, including 59% of Republicans, 76% of Democrats and 56% of Independents.
- Communications from loan servicing providers since the end of the payment pause have been either “good” or “excellent” according to 50% of respondents.
- 37% of respondents were automatically entered into either loan deferment (paying the loan at a later date) or loan forbearance (lower or no loan payments, but interest continues to accrue).
- Since the end of the payment pause, 6% of respondents say they have had their loans forgiven and 5% of respondents say they have paid off their loans.
A breakdown of key demographic data from the poll is available in the poll summary document. This latest poll included similar questions and sample group makeup from a poll NEFE fielded in July 2023, when Congress had passed legislation ending the pause on student loan payments and 0% interest rates on eligible federal student loans, but those changes had not yet gone into effect. Key comparisons between the two polls include:
- A lower percentage of U.S. adults currently have outstanding student loans—either for themselves or for a child, grandchild or other dependent—compared to July 2023 (26% vs. 31%).
- In July 2023, 83% of respondents anticipated needing to make a budget adjustment. By comparison, 74% of respondents said they actually needed to make a budgetary adjustment.
- In the July 2023 poll, 11% of respondents anticipated not needing to make a change to their budgets, compared to 22% in the 2024 poll who didn’t need to make a change to their budgets.
- Prior to the pause ending, 55% of respondents earning over $100k were “very satisfied” with their education. That percentage dropped to 28% in the 2024 poll.
NEFE has monitored the student loan payment pause issue as it has evolved and borrowers have adapted to changes. Congress passed the legislation to allow individuals to pause their student loan payments in March 2020 as part of the COVID-19 economic response. The pause stayed in place until Congress passed legislation in June 2023 to end it, effective October 2023. The Biden Administration introduced the Saving for a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan in August 2023, offering eligible borrowers a new option for income driven repayment that included lower monthly payments and the possibility of earlier forgiveness. In late-August 2024, a federal court issued an injunction on the SAVE plan, placing many borrowers in temporary forbearance, and for those who thought their loans had been forgiven, an uncertainty of their current standing.
NEFE explores changing financial conditions such as the repayment pause beginning and ending in its Personal Finance Ecosystem as a catalyst for change that individuals encounter on their journey for financial well-being, and the process to adapt is part of the Financial Actions and Outcomes cycle.
“Financial well-being is a lifelong journey because adapting to change is always necessary. The evolution and outcomes of the student loan issue are perfect examples of how balance is needed to address this matter. Policymakers need to thoughtfully consider their role in addressing the many problems associated with student debt, and individual borrowers need to be fully educated on student lending so they can adjust accordingly to make the best decisions for themselves,” says Hensley.
For more on this survey, visit the NEFE website.
SurveyUSA Full Methodology
SurveyUSA interviewed 1,950 U.S. adults online from August 5-7, 2024 using a nonprobability sample of adult online panelists provided by Lucid Holdings, LLC, of New Orleans. Of the adults, 813 were identified as currently having or having had student loan debt and were asked the substantive questions. The pool of adult respondents was weighted to U.S. Census ACS targets for gender, age, race, education home ownership, and recall of their 2020 presidential vote.
