---
title: "The Burdens of Student Debt"
description: "About half (48%) of students who took out college loans say that paying them back has made it harder to make ends meet after they left school."
date: "2012-04-25"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2012/04/25/the-burdens-of-student-debt/"
---

# The Burdens of Student Debt

As the cost of higher education has increased, a growing share of undergraduates are taking out loans and a rising share of families are attempting to pay them back.

About half (48%) of students who took out college loans say that paying them back has made it harder to make ends meet after they left school. A quarter say that making loan payments has made it harder to buy a home; 24% say it has had an impact on the kind of career they are pursuing; and 7% say they have delayed getting married or starting a family because of it.

Across the country, averagetuition and fees have roughly tripled since 1980-81, even after accounting for inflation. For the 2010-11 school year, the average in-state, full-time undergraduate student paid $7,605 in tuition and fees (before grant aid), up from $2,119 in 1980-81. The increase in tuition and fees has been even more severe at private colleges and universities, jumping up from$9,535 in 1980-81 to $27,293 in 2010-11. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2011/05/15/is-college-worth-it/2/#chapter-1-overview?src=prc-number)