Center for American Progress

Yes, student loans really are making millennials go broke
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Yes, student loans really are making millennials go broke

Maggie Thompson and Senya Merchant explain how student loan debt is eating away at Millennials' finances.

Ten years after America’s largest financial institutions upended the economic livelihood of millions of millennials entering the job market, a new report from the Federal Reserve confirms what we already knew: millennials are broke.

Post-recession, the banks regained their footing, the housing market stabilized and company earnings rose. But while big industries were thrown a lifeline, a whole generation — the largest workforce in U.S. history — faced escalating college tuition costs with few streams of money. Now, 44 million Americans are shouldering $1.5 trillion in outstanding student loans, with young people under the age of 35 holding almost half of that debt.

The above excerpt was originally published in The Hill. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Maggie Thompson

Executive Director, Generation Progress

Senya Merchant

Program Manager, Higher Ed, Not Debt and Generation Progress