Sixty-four percent of student debt held by women: study

The burden of student debt is having an outsized impact on women who now hold nearly two-thirds of the $1.3 trillion in outstanding education loans in the United States, according to a new report from the American Association of University Women.

'It's important to understand all of the challenges facing women in the United States, and in terms of their economic well-being, student debt is a big one,” said Kevin Miller, senior researcher at the American Association of University Women.

Based on data from the Education Department, Miller and his team estimate that women enrolled in college borrow about 14 percent more on average than men in a given year. Women typically owe $1,500 more than their male counterparts upon completion of a bachelor's degree, and black women take on more student debt on average than any other group of women, the study said.

Khallilah Watkins, 27, can attest to the struggle that some black women face in covering the cost of college. There was no end to the emotional support her family provided while she attended the University of Missouri, but Watkins said no one had the financial resources to help pay for tuition, room and board, so she borrowed nearly $50,000 to obtain a bachelor's degree.

By the time she landed at Trinity Washington University to pursue an advanced degree in communications, Watkins hoped to keep her borrowing to a minimum by using a portion of the education grant she received after serving as a high school counselor through AmeriCorps. But she still needed to take out more loans.

After dropping out of Trinity because of financial hardship, Watkins deferred her loan payments as she had trouble finding work to cover all of her expenses. With the interest that accrued on the debt, she now owes $74,000.

Considering the larger loan amounts that women take on and the fact that they make up more than half the college population, the study estimates that 64 percent of student debt, or about $833 billion, is held by women. That number actually may be bit higher because the study only looked at graduates - not women who drop out of college or mothers who take out parent loans to help their children pay for school.

The study found that it takes the average woman nearly two years longer to repay student loans than their male counterparts. Researchers suspect that gender wage inequality plays a large role in the disparity in repayment rates.

An earlier study by the association found that women with college degrees earn 26 percent less than men in comparable jobs. Lower incomes and longer repayment timetables are a drag on women's financial security, the study said.