Research conducted by CNBC and Acorns in partnership with Momentive finds the majority believes President Biden should grant some type of student loan forgiveness
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. and SAN MATEO, CA, January 28, 2022 – CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, and Acorns, the country's fastest growing financial wellness system, today announced the results of the Invest in You Student Loan Survey. The national survey, conducted in partnership with Momentive (formerly SurveyMonkey), a leader in agile experience management, examined the impact of America's student loan crisis by surveying more than 5,100 Americans ages 18 and up.
According to the findings, more than half of those surveyed (57%) say President Biden should make student loan forgiveness a priority and nearly two-thirds (62%) of adults in the U.S. say they approve of the President's decision to pause repayments until May 1st.
Overall, the majority (69%) of people say President Biden should grant some type of student loan forgiveness: 34% of the general public says all student loans should be forgiven, 35% says that student loans should be forgiven for just those in need, and 27% say no student loans should be forgiven for anyone.
While millions of Americans continue to accumulate large amounts of student loan debt in order to complete their degrees, more than half (54%) of adults with student loans say it was not worth it to take on debt. The majority (61%) of those who make less than $50,000 say it was not worth it while 52% of those who make $50,000-$99,999 and 41% of those who make above $100,000 say it was not worth it. Additionally, Gen Zers (52%) are most likely of the age groups to say it was worth it compared to 44% of Gen X and Boomers and 41% of Millennials.
Additional findings from the CNBC + Acorns Invest in You Student Loan Survey include:
- One-third (34%) of the general public says all student loans should be forgiven.
-Gen Zers are most supportive of forgiving all student loans (45%) followed closely by 43% of Millennials, 32% of Gen X and 23% of Boomers.
-Those who make less than $50,000 are most likely to say all student loans should be forgiven (42%) compared to 33% of those who earn $50,000-$99,999 and 25% of those who make more than $100,000.
-Of those who owe more than $100,000, 76% are most supportive of forgiving loans for everyone. The majority of those who owe between $25,000-$100,000 (65%), $10,000-$24,999 (67%) and those who owe less than $10,000 (59%) also support forgiving loans entirely.
- Most people with student loans (81%) say they've had to delay key life milestones, such as saving for retirement or buying a home, in order to pay off their student loans.
-Nearly half of those under 35 say student loans have delayed them buying a home (44%) and investing their money (44%).
-Adults age 35-64 say student loans delay them in paying off other loans (46%) and saving for retirement (42%).
- When it comes to their debt, 62% U.S. adults with federal student loans say it negatively affects their mental health.
-The less an individual earns, the more likely their mental health suffers. Of those who say their student loans negatively affect their mental health:
7 in 10 of them make less than $50,000
6 in 10 of them make between $50,000 and $99,999
Nearly 5 in 10 of them make more than $100,000
-More women (65%) than men (54%) say student debt negatively affects their mental health.
-Boomers are least likely to say their loans negatively affect their mental health (62% of Gen Z, 62% of Millennials, 63% of Gen Xers, and 55% of Boomers).
CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent will reveal the results of the Invest in You Student Loan Survey today, Friday, January 28th, throughout CNBC's Business Day programming. For more information on the survey including the full results and methodology go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/cnbc-invest-in-you-jan-2022.
Additionally, CNBC + Acorns Invest in You: Ready. Set. Grow. will host a conversation about the student loan crisis on Twitter Spaces today, January 28th at 12pm ET featuring CNBC reporters and guest speakers including Dr. Kristen Broady, Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program Fellow; Mark Kantrowitz, Author, How to Appeal for More College Financial Aid, Twisdoms about Paying for College, Filing the FAFSA and Secrets to Winning a Scholarship; Dr. Brad Klontz, Psy.D., CFP, Managing Principal, Your Mental Wealth Advisors and CNBC Financial Wellness Advisory Council Member; Winnie Sun, CFP, Managing Director, Sun Group Wealth Partners and CNBC Advisor Council Member; Yanely Espinal, Director of Educational Outreach, Next Gen Personal Finance and CNBC Financial Wellness Advisory Council Member; and Jon Cohen, Chief Research Officer and SVP, Strategic Partnership & Business Dev, Momentive. Click here to join the conversation at noon today.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal and Comcast Ventures are investors in Acorns.
Methodology:
Methodology: This Momentive online poll was conducted January 10 - 13, 2022 among a national sample of 5,162 adults. Respondents for this survey were selected from the more than 2 million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 2.0 percentage points. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau's American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over.