If you graduated from college years ago and are still reeling from the costs, you’re not alone.
A new survey from Bankrate shows that 73 percent of respondents have delayed at least one major life milestone because of their student loan debt. Participants said they’ve put off buying a house (23 percent), saving for retirement (29 percent), saving for emergencies (34 percent) or paying off other debt (27 percent).
“For prospective students and their families, many of who will help them to pay for their secondary education, we’d urge them to investigate all possible options for financial aid including scholarships to limit their borrowing, ” said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for Bankrate, in an email.
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Bankrate surveyed 3,885 adults in the U.S. this February. The average student loan debt in 2019 is $33,310, according to financial-service marketplace Credible.
“There’s a huge toll being taken on individuals and the U.S. economy from the growing burden of student loan debt,” Hamrick said. “For the huge slice of the American population with debt, it is necessary to juggle competing goals including saving for emergencies and retirement, as well as major life decisions.”
Looking back, 77 percent of millennials with student debt said they would have made different financial decisions in college, according to the survey.
Among those regrets? Thirty percent of respondents said they would apply for more scholarships, 19 percent said they would have gone to a community college and 18 percent reported they would attend a different university.
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