How many Missourians have student loans? How much do they owe? Will it be forgiven?
Thousands of college graduates in Missouri will see their student loan debt erased completely under the White House's forgiveness plan unveiled this week. Even more will have their debts reduced.
The Show-Me State is home to 833,400 student borrowers, according to 2022 data from the Education Data Initiative, roughly equivalent to 13.5% of total residents. They hold a cumulative $29.5 billion in loan debt, and the average debt per borrower in the state sits at $35,397.
Under President Joe Biden's plan outlined Wednesday, Pell Grant recipients will receive up to $20,000 in relief, and many others who took out federal loans and earn less than $125,000 annually will receive up to $10,000 in relief. Additionally, monthly repayment rates for undergraduate loans will be capped at five percent of a borrower's monthly income.
That means that the average borrower in Missouri will not see the entirety of their debt wiped away, and will continue having to make payments when the pause ends on Jan. 1, 2023. But for an estimated 130,000 borrowers who owe less than $5,000, according to the Education Data Initiative, loan debt will be no more.
How much do Missouri graduates owe on student loans?
For the 22.1 percent of borrowers in Missouri who owe between $20,000 and $40,000 (at an average of $28,595), they could see anywhere from a portion to a vast majority of their debt erased, depending on whether they were Pell grant recipients. Pell grants are often awarded to students whose families earn less than $60,000 annually.
The majority of borrowers in Missouri skew younger — 50.3% of them are under 35 — and Missourians at large are more likely to have an above-average debt remainder than their national peers, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Around 56 percent of graduates in Missouri have debt as of 2019-2020, according to The Institute for College Access & Success, and 11 percent of graduates have private debt.
More: Roy Blunt, Eric Schmitt criticize Biden's student debt forgiveness plan
Graduates of the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis (previously known as the St. Louis College of Pharmacy) and Missouri Valley College in Marshall leave school with the highest average amounts of debt in the state, according to data from The Institute for College Access & Success. The lowest average belongs to State Technical College of Missouri in Linn, at $1,800. College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout does not participate in state and federal student loan programs.
Two of the largest public four-year schools in the state, the University of Missouri in Columbia and Missouri State University in Springfield, see graduates leave with average debts of $28,457 and $27,075, respectively.
More: 'Debt and no degree': Biden cancels as much as $20K in student loan debt: Recap
Galen Bacharier covers Missouri politics & government for the News-Leader. Contact him at gbacharier@news-leader.com, (573) 219-7440 or on Twitter @galenbacharier.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Some MO student loan holders could have debt wiped under Biden plan
