Is There a Student Loan Gender Gap?

Now comes the toughest part of borrowing money for college: paying it back.

There is much for this year’s crop of graduates to learn.  For example, the federal government gives you a reprieve after graduation, usually six months, before requiring you to start repaying your debts. But did you know that interest builds up during this “grace period”?  Starting payments right away reduces how much you’ll have to pay back.

Making repayment mistakes or not having a plan can also be very costly.  Click here for some tips to avoid these mistakes.

Here’s another issue: women borrow slightly more money for undergraduate degrees than do men but earn less after college and seem to have more difficulty paying back their loans.

In 2012, women borrowed $21,000 for an undergraduate degree, on average, compared with about $19,500 for men, according to a new study by the American Association of University Women (AAUW).

Men are able to pay their debt back faster too. During the first four years after graduation, men pay off 38 percent of their outstanding college debt. Women pay about 31 percent. Women graduates with student debt are also more likely to report more difficulty making their rent payments, AAWU’s survey found.

Many questions remain unanswered. What explains the differences? Also, the study doesn’t control for how much young adult men and women earn in their jobs. Nor does it sort out the implication of different payoffs for the different types of degrees that men and women choose.  Careers in software engineering or nursing are more likely to justify hefty loans than degrees in film or women’s studies with uncertain career paths.

This study raises interesting issues, which future research will hopefully address.

In the meantime, women, it’s something to think about.

Squared Away writer Kim Blanton invites you to follow us on Twitter @SquaredAwayBC. To stay current on our blog, please join our free email list. You’ll receive just one email each week – with links to the two new posts for that week – when you sign up here.