[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-584347-105":59,"doc-detail-584347-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","policy-fact-sheet-community-colleges-and-student-debt-june-2026","POLICY FACT SHEET - Community Colleges and Student Debt - June 2026","","Policy fact sheet outlining how student loans affect community college attendees, balancing financing benefits with risks when programs are not completed. It reviews federal student-loan scale through 2025, describes borrowing and default patterns for 2012 entrants over six years, and highlights disparities by race and income. It also summarizes research on borrowing incentives, transfer outcomes, the role of Pell Grants, and post-pandemic repayment delays that increase delinquency and default exposure.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/policy-fact-sheet-community-colleges-and-student-debt-june-2026/584347/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/policy-fact-sheet-community-colleges-and-student-debt-june-2026/584347.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"WPS_1786070896","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why do student loans matter for financing education, and what challenge do they create?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Student loans help pay tuition and other educational costs and can support college persistence and graduation. They also become a challenge for students who do not complete programs and therefore do not receive the earnings boost associated with a degree.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do community college students’ borrowing and default outcomes compare to four-year students?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Community college students generally borrow less and hold smaller balances, but they default at somewhat higher rates than four-year students and are less likely to resolve loan defaults.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What changes since the COVID-19 payment pause may affect default risk?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Collection resumed in October 2023, and many borrowers have fallen behind. Since the end of the pause, borrowers have been slower to pay down balances, suggesting increased default rates, with millions in default or delinquent.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},584347,1792895373,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":52,"preview_page_count":4},549768072016,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","POLICY FACT SHEET  \nJUNE 202 6  \nCommunity Colleges and Student Debt  \nStudent loans are an important way to finance tuition and other educational costs and can increase the probability of college persistence and graduation.1 However, student loan debt can also be a challenge for students who do not complete a program of study and do not experience the boost in earnings that usually comes with a college degree. Paying off loans can be burdensome even for student borrowers who do graduate. As of 2025, there were about 42.8 million people holding $1.7 trillion in federal student loans, down from a peak of $1.9 trillion in 2020.2  \nThough community college students borrow less and generally have smaller balances than students in other sectors, they have their own struggles with debt. Community college students who do borrow default at somewhat higher rates than four-year college students and are less likely to resolve loan defaults. Student loan collection was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic but restarted in October 2023. Since then, millions of student borrowers have fallen behind on their loans.3 4 In 2025, the federal government instituted new borrowing limits, changed the options for repayment, and cutback on loan forgiveness programs, but the new loan landscape is still taking shape. 5 6  \nBorrowing and Default Over Six Years for 2012 Entrants at Public Two-Year Colleges  \n\n| Characteristic | % of students\u003Cbr>who borrowed\u003Cbr>through 2017 | Cumulative loans\u003Cbr>among borrowers,\u003Cbr>median | % of borrowers\u003Cbr>who defaulted |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Total | 39% | $10,000 | 17% |\n| Asian/\u003Cbr>Pacific Islander | 28% | $8,196 | 13% |\n| Black or\u003Cbr>African American | 54% | $9,500 | 29% |\n| Hispanic or Latino | 27% | $9,500 | 14% |\n| White | 40% | $10,750 | 14% |\n| High income | 39% | $11,250 | 14% |\n| Low income | 39% | $9,500 | 20% |\n\nSource: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Beginning Postsecondary Students: 2012/2017 (BPS). The final dataset for the mostrecent, completed BPS study, BPS 12/17, contains information on approximately 22,500 students. Cumulative loans include undergraduate loans only.  \nWhat the Research Tells Us  \nCommunity college students are less likely to borrow than other college students and accrue less debt overall. The percentage of students who borrow has fallen in recent years but is still up over the longer term.  \n• Thirty-nine percent of public two-year college students who started in 2011-127 took out undergraduate loans within six years of college entry, and 17% of borrowers had defaulted on their loans within six years of college entry.8  \n• In 2019-20, 33% of associate degree graduates at public colleges had ever taken out loans, compared with 59% of bachelor’s graduates at public colleges. The average cumulative loan amount for associate graduates from public colleges who took out loans was $15,530 .910  \n• The share of community college students who took out student loans in a given year increased from 5% in 1999-2000 to 17% in 2011-12 and then decreased in 2019-20 to 11% . In 2019-20, the share of student borrowers at four-year public universities was 38% and at for-profit colleges was 62% .11  \n525 West 120th St. , Box 174, New York, [NY 10027](NY 10027 | ccrc.tc.columbia.edu | @CommunityCCRC | 212.678.3091)[ |](NY 10027 | ccrc.tc.columbia.edu | @CommunityCCRC | 212.678.3091)[ ccrc.tc.columbia.edu](NY 10027 | ccrc.tc.columbia.edu | @CommunityCCRC | 212.678.3091)[ |](NY 10027 | ccrc.tc.columbia.edu | @CommunityCCRC | 212.678.3091)[ @CommunityCCRC](NY 10027 | ccrc.tc.columbia.edu | @CommunityCCRC | 212.678.3091)[ |](NY 10027 | ccrc.tc.columbia.edu | @CommunityCCRC | 212.678.3091)[ 212.678.3091](NY 10027 | ccrc.tc.columbia.edu | @CommunityCCRC | 212.678.3091)  \nMany community college students appear to benefit from access to student loans, though they are often discouraged from borrowing.  \n• Colleges have discretion over whether to include loan offers in ","cbCaieNJ6mBLOkRM","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaieNJ6mBLOkRM","pdf",314691,"English","# Community Colleges and Student Debt\n## Borrowing, persistence, and graduation\n## Borrowing and default patterns\n## What the research tells us","[{\"question\":\"Why do student loans matter for financing education, and what challenge do they create?\",\"answer\":\"Student loans help pay tuition and other educational costs and can support college persistence and graduation. They also become a challenge for students who do not complete programs and therefore do not receive the earnings boost associated with a degree.\"},{\"question\":\"How do community college students’ borrowing and default outcomes compare to four-year students?\",\"answer\":\"Community college students generally borrow less and hold smaller balances, but they default at somewhat higher rates than four-year students and are less likely to resolve loan defaults.\"},{\"question\":\"What changes since the COVID-19 payment pause may affect default risk?\",\"answer\":\"Collection resumed in October 2023, and many borrowers have fallen behind. Since the end of the pause, borrowers have been slower to pay down balances, suggesting increased default rates, with millions in default or delinquent.\"}]","POLICY FACT SHEET - Community Colleges and Student Debt - June 2026 | PDF",1792050739]