Student loans affect economy

The numbers of U.S. college students taking out loans to stay in school and complete their education is climbing rapidly, according to a review of data by the Wells Fargo Securities Economics Group.

The percentage of white students who took loans to finish school in the 1995-1996 school year was about 25 percent; by the 2011-2012 school year, that had increased to more than 40 percent.

For African-American students, it jumped from about 30 percent to more than 50 percent in the same time frame.

For Hispanics, it went from more than 20 percent to about 35 percent.

The information being released this morning notes that states pulled back on college and university support during the Great Recession and years leading up to it, and the schools shifted the costs to students. At the same time, numbers from the U.S. Department of Education analyzed by Wells Fargo shows that the net price for attending college (minus all grants and aid) is up more than 100 percent between 1995 and 2012.

A possible result of the larger loans is that college graduates have less to spend, which slows economic growth.

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