Student Debt Surpasses $1 Trillion

Growing as a share of consumer debt

Total outstanding student debt has now crossed the $1 trillion mark. According to data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank that tracks total consumer debt, America's total student debt balance is $1.27 trillion, up $33 billion from the second quarter of this year. Broadly, consumer debt has risen $127 billion in this third quarter to $11.28 trillion trillion.

So, while increasing student debt is less than ten percent of the total debt held by individuals, it's growing as a share of all consumer debt and is now the second largest type of consumer debt, greater than home equity lines, auto debt, or credit card debt. The lion's share of consumer debt is, as always, mortgages, with $7.9 billion outstanding.