Nationwide — Education may be priceless but it does come with a price tag. And for Black women in the United States, it’s even more expensive! A new study has discovered that African-American women have the highest average amount of student loan debt… and it boils down to race and gender inequality.
A recent report released by American Association of University Women entitled “Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans” revealed that African-American women accumulate an average of $30,400 of debt by the time they graduate from college, in comparison with $22,000 on white women and $19,500 on white men.
All in all, women owe almost twice the country’s student loan debt amounting to $890 billion, compared to $490 billion owed by men.
Kim Churches, the Executive Director of AAUW, added that the debts women carry over their careers are even aggravated if they face the gender pay gap. “This debt is an albatross for many women as they embark on careers and work to support their households and families. And, it only gets worse over time when coupled with the gender pay gap,” she said.
That happens even though women account for 56 percent of enrolled college students and are most probable to graduate than men owing money at 71 percent for female graduates and 66 percent for male graduates.
Although women have higher graduation rates, because Black women barely make 63 cents for every dollar white men make, they still find it harder to pay off their student loan debts.
Meanwhile, there are some solutions presented in the report which includes increasing state and federal funding of public colleges and universities and ensuring and expanding Pell Grants for low-income students.