More Parents Taking On Their Kids' College Debt
Kate Ashford ,
Contributor
I cover personal finance, work, and consumer trends.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
A growing number of parents of children ages 17 and older say they’re repaying their children’s college debt, according to a new analysis by USC researchers. About 13% of parents around age 50 reported paying off their children’s student loans.
They're also borrowing more. From the 1995-96 academic year to the 2015-16 academic year, borrowers for Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students went up 56%, according to the College Board, and the amount borrowed has leaped from $3.6 billion to $12 billion.
“We worry about the potential consequences of taking on student loan debt at a time when these parents should be saving for retirement and paying down their own debt,” says study co-author Jennifer Ailshire, Ph.D., an assistant professor of gerontology at USC. “Some parents may choose to delay retirement as a result of needing to save more or pay down more debt.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kateashford/2016/12/29/college-debt/#6efa69871b2c
