Majority of student loan borrowers have delayed major life events due to debt, poll shows

SUGGESTED COVERAGE: In Depth: Student Loans, Green Dot Schools

Hal speaks with Amber Miller of Greenpath Financial Wellness about repaying student loans. He also discusses charter schools with Cristina de Jesus, the president and CEO of Green Dot Schools.

LOS ANGELES - A staggering 71% of student loan borrowers say they've put off major life events - like buying a car or home - because of their debt, a new Gallup poll shows.

Purchasing a home is the most commonly delayed event (29% of borrowers), followed by buying a car (28%), moving out of their parents' home (22%) and starting their own business (20%). Having children (15%) and delaying marriage (13%) rounded out the list.

The results are part of the Lumina Foundation-Gallup 2024 State of Higher Education Study, conducted Oct. 9-Nov. 16, 2023, via a web survey with 14,032 current and prospective college students. Included among those were over 6,000 students enrolled in a post-high school education program, over 5,000 adults not currently enrolled with some college but no degree, and over 3,000 adults who had never been enrolled in a postsecondary school or program.

One in three U.S. students currently enrolled in college or post-high-school programs said they have considered stopping their coursework in the past six months with 31% blaming the cost.

Even borrowers with higher amounts of student loan debt are far more likely to say they've delayed purchasing a home or buying car. According to the poll, more than 9 in 10 of those who borrowed at least $60,000 in loans say they've delayed one or more major milestones because of student loan debt.

According to Gallup, about 4 in 10 undergraduate students take out loans to pay costs associated with obtaining their degree.

Last week, the Biden administration announced it is canceling student loans for another 206,000 borrowers as part of a new repayment plan that offers a faster route to forgiveness. The Supreme Court last year foiled his first attempt to forgive hundreds of billions of dollars in loans, a decision that Biden called a "mistake," the Associated Press reports.

Since then, the White House has pursued debt relief through other targeted initiatives, including those for public service workers and low-income borrowers. Administration officials said they have canceled $144 billion in student loans for almost 4 million Americans.

The average in-state cost of tuition and fees to attend a ranked public college is nearly 75% less than the average sticker price at a private college, at $10,662 for the 2023-2024 year compared with $42,162, respectively, U.S. News data shows. The average cost for out-of-state students at public colleges amounts to $23,630 for the same year.