Federal Student Loan Debt Burden of Noncompleters (NCES 2013-155)

This Statistics in Brief focuses on the cumulative federal education debt (Stafford and Perkins loans) accrued by students who do not complete a postsecondary degree or certificate (“noncompleters”) within 6 years of first enrolling. It is based on data from the two most recent longitudinal studies of beginning postsecondary students conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics: students who first enrolled in 1995-96 (and left without a degree as of 2001) and those who first enrolled in 2003-04 (and left without a degree as of 2009).