Undergraduate Student Grant and Loan Percentages over Time
In 2011-12, grants constituted 51% of the funds used by undergraduates to supplement student and family resources, compared to 29% for graduate students. Loans constituted 40% of the funds for undergraduates, compared to 68% for graduate students.
Percentages in Figure 4A are shown as a portion of the total amount of postsecondary funding described in Table 1, including nonfederal loans in addition to financial aid (grants, federal loans, tax credits and deductions, and Federal Work-Study). In addition to the sources included here, students rely on funds from their families and from their own earnings and savings; they also borrow from other sources. Graduate students also receive fellowships and research assistantships, which are considered compensation.
SOURCE: Trends in Student Aid website (trends.collegeboard.org), Tables 4A and 4B.
- The introduction of the unsubsidized Stafford Loan program in the early 1990s led to an increase in the share of funds for undergraduate students in the form of loans from 34% in 1991-92 to 48% in 1996-97. Not included in this figure are home equity loans, credit card borrowing, and other sources of debt undergraduate students and their parents may have relied on more before unsubsidized federal loans were available.
- In 2011-12, the combination of federal tax credits and deductions and Federal Work-Study constituted 9% of the student aid and nonfederal loan funds that supplement student and family payments for the college expenses of undergraduate students; they constituted 3% of these funds for graduate students.