Reaching the Limit: Undergraduates Who Borrow the Maximum Amount in Federal Direct Loans: 2011-12 (NCES 2016-408)

This Statistics in Brief examines students who took out their individual maximum amount in Stafford loans in 2011-12 compared with those who did so in 2007-08, by dependency status, income level, institution type, and attendance status. The report also investigates whether students borrowed their eligible maximum before turning to other sources of funds such as Parent PLUS or private loans. The analysis uses nationally representative data on U.S. undergraduates collected in several administrations of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), principally for 2007-08 and 2011-12.