Pell Grant students left 6 billion more in debt than Non-Pell peers—increases inequality gap

The Department of Education recently released new data for the , a critical consumer tool that provides vital college- and program-level data on college outcomes that are available for download. With this year’s release, the Department refreshed the Scorecard’s data, including college costs, student debt, graduation rates, and student body demographics, and they added the following new data elements: Median and average debt of students with federal student loans by Pell Grant status and sex Median earnings two years after completion Median and average Parent Plus loan debt, also disaggregated by Pell Grant status and sex Graduates earning more than 150% of the Federal Poverty Line Of the new data elements, we spotlight median debt by Pell Grant status, which can shed light on college affordability for low-income students. Most students who graduate with debt are from low-income backgrounds – national data show that over 7 in 10 of graduates (73%) with any federal loans also received a Pell grant, and that Pell graduates have about $4,500 more in debt than other graduates.[1] However, data showing differences in debt loads between Pell and non-Pell graduates has not been available by college or program until this release. These data indicate that debt disparities for students who progressed through the same education and graduated with the same degree are very common, and quite sizeable. Pell Students Graduate with Higher Median Debt than Higher-Income Peers Looking at median debt from College Scorecard, Pell graduates also have higher debt burdens than non-Pell graduates across credentials and when compared within the same program.[2] In fact, among a combined cohort of graduates from the Classes of 2017 and 2018, the median Pell recipient graduating from a bachelor’s degree program acquires $26,863 in student loans while their non-Pell counterparts borrow only $23,395 (15% more debt for Pell students than non-Pell).[3] In associate degree programs, non-Pell graduates had a median debt of $12,250 compared their Pell counterparts who had borrowed $16,370 (34% more). Non-Pell graduates who completed certificates also borrowed $9,833 in contrast to Pell graduates with $11,814 (20% more). Across these three credentials, the median Pell-to-non-Pell debt gap is $2,553.[4] Pell Students Graduate with Higher Debt in Three-Quarters of Programs Within the program-level data, Pell graduates borrowed more than non-Pell graduates at 75 percent of programs.[5] Across credentials, Pell graduates had borrowed more than non-Pell graduates at 74 percent of bachelor’s degree programs, 77 percent of associate degree programs, and 73 percent of undergraduate certificate programs. In many of the programs, the gap is quite large: About 28 percent of bachelor’s degree programs and 29 percent of associate degree programs reported Pell graduates borrowing more than $5,000 than their non-Pell peers. In about a quarter of programs, Pell graduates fare better than non-Pell graduates when it comes to debt loads, though the gaps are generally much smaller. Overall, only 3 percent of programs saw the debt loads of Pell graduates to be at least $5,000 less than non-Pell peers.