Trends in Student Aid: Highlights
Review highlights from the Trends in Student Aid 2023 report. You can find the full report, Excel data, and PowerPoint presentation in the Resources section at the bottom of this page.
How Much Aid Are Students Getting?
$240.7 billion: The total amount of aid that undergraduate and graduate students received in 2022-23 from all grants, federal loans, federal education tax benefits, and federal work-study.
Average aid per full-time equivalent (FTE) student in 2022-23 was:
- $15,480 per undergraduate student
- $28,300 per graduate student
Grant Aid
$145.3 billion: The total amount of grant aid received by undergraduate and graduate students in 2022-23.
Federal grant aid: In 2022-23, total federal grant aid was $37.7 billion including $27.2 billion in Pell Grants. Since 2010-11, federal grant aid—including Pell Grants—has been declining as a share of the total grant aid.
State grants: Between 2011-12 and 2020-21, state grant aid per FTE undergraduate student increased from $790 to $1,070 in 2021 dollars. In 2021-22, state grant aid per FTE undergraduate student was $1,060. In 2021-22, state grant aid per FTE undergraduate student ranged from under $200 in six states to over $2,000 in four states.
Institutional grant aid: Aid from colleges and universities grew rapidly over the past 10 years, from $57.7 billion (in 2022 dollars) in 2012-13 to $76.9 billion in 2022-23.
Loans
$98.2 billion: The total amount that parents and students borrowed in federal and nonfederal loans to pay for postsecondary education in 2022-23.
- This was the 12th consecutive year that annual borrowing declined.
Student Debt
$29,400: The average amount borrowed by 2021-22 bachelor’s degree recipients who took out loans to pay for college. It was $33,200 in 2011-12 and $34,000 in 2016-17, after adjusting for inflation.
As of March 2023, 32% of borrowers owed less than $10,000 and 21% owed between $10,000 and $20,000 in federal loan debt. These borrowers held 4% and 8% of the outstanding federal debt, respectively.