Student Loans: How Much Debt Is Too Much Debt?

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Taking on student debt is common — one in six adult Americans has federal student loan debt — and it can be a worthwhile investment to reach new career opportunities. However, borrowing more than you can reasonably repay may lead to financial challenges after you graduate and make it harder to feel confident that your investment paid off.

Keep reading to learn how to manage and minimize student debt, compare average debt levels by degree level and field of study, and determine how much borrowing may be reasonable for your situation.

There is no universal answer to how much student debt is too much. The tipping point depends on factors like your career path, expected income, repayment plan, and financial goals.

One common guideline is to keep student loan payments at or below 10% of your gross monthly income. While no single rule can tell you exactly how much debt is too much for you, the following benchmarks can provide a useful framework for evaluating how much student debt you may be able to reasonably manage.

If your total student loan debt is less than your expected starting salary, you’re more likely to have manageable monthly loan payments. For example, someone expecting to earn $60,000 per year should generally aim to keep their total student loan debt below that amount.

The average starting salary for new bachelor’s degree graduates in 2024 was $66,505, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). However, earnings vary significantly by field, so it’s important to research starting salary projections for your intended career.

If your student loan payments stay below 10% of your gross monthly income (your earnings before taxes and deductions), you’ll have more room in your budget for other financial priorities, such as housing, groceries, and transportation.

If your payments rise above that threshold, they can become harder to manage, especially early in your career.

Keeping total debt payments below 33% of your income can leave more room in your budget for housing, savings, emergencies, and other financial obligations. Beyond student loans, many borrowers also have credit card balances, car loans, and other debt.

Even manageable student loan payments can become difficult when combined with other debt. When deciding how much student debt you can afford, consider how it fits with your other financial obligations.

Using your expected starting salary, estimated student loan balance at graduation, and other monthly debt payments can help you determine a manageable debt amount. The following example shows how to combine them to create a manageable debt plan.

Graduate and professional students often borrow more because their programs are more expensive. Whether that debt becomes a problem depends largely on how much their careers pay after graduation.

In many cases, high debt is easier to manage in areas that offer strong earning potential, such as medicine, dentistry, or law. However, fields with lower salaries relative to degree costs, such as social work, psychology, and education, may lead to higher debt that is more difficult to repay.

Student loan debt varies both by degree type and education level. In general, higher degree levels can lead to greater earning potential, but they often come with more student debt. Borrowing amounts can also vary by field of study, with some programs requiring more debt than others.

While bachelor’s degree students tend to borrow less than graduate students, many still take on significant debt to earn a four-year degree.

Graduate students typically borrow significantly more than undergraduate students, especially in professional doctoral programs such as Psy.D. programs. The table below shows the average debt from graduate school and the total average student loan debt, including undergraduate borrowing.

The amount students borrow often depends on their field of study. Because much of this data comes from 2019-20, we’ve adjusted the figures for inflation in the counseling and psychology tables to show their value in 2026 dollars. Keep in mind that borrowing patterns may have shifted since this data was collected.

The following sections examine average student loan debt among counseling, social work, and psychology graduates.

Counseling students borrow less than average at the undergraduate level, but debt increases significantly in graduate counseling programs. Undergraduate counseling students borrowed about $28,549 on average in 2019-20, according to NCES data.

Master’s graduates averaged $54,467 in debt, while Psy.D. and Ph.D. graduates averaged $127,914, according to The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS).

Social work degrees cost less on average at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. According to the most recent Council on Social Work Education data, social work bachelor’s degree graduates had an average debt of $32,804, while graduates of MSW programs had an average debt of $40,070.

For professional doctorate recipients, the average debt was $49,293, while Ph.D. students had an average debt of $67,186. However, these figures reflect debt among graduates who borrowed rather than all graduates, which may help explain why Ph.D. debt appears higher than expected, given that many doctoral programs offer funding.

Psychology students at the bachelor’s level graduate with less debt than average, while students pursuing advanced psychology degrees often take on above-average debt. In 2019-20, psychology bachelor’s graduates had an average debt of $24,234, according to NCES data.

TICAS reported that master’s graduates averaged $54,467, while Psy.D. and Ph.D. graduates averaged $127,914 and $118,286, respectively.

While you may need to borrow for school, maximizing your financial aid can help reduce how much debt you have at graduation. Here are four key tips for minimizing student debt:

Choosing an affordable school or program is one of the most effective ways to reduce student debt. Some schools prioritize affordability more than others, and the cost differences can save you thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars over time.

In-state public schools typically offer the lowest tuition, while private schools often cost much more.

You can reduce how much you borrow in several ways. Scholarships, grants, and employer tuition assistance are some of the best ways to lower costs because they help pay for school without requiring repayment.

For graduate students, assistantships and fellowships are major funding sources that can significantly reduce borrowing. Other ways to lower costs include working during school, transferring credits or attending community college, living with family, and borrowing only what you need.

Federal student loans are generally a safer option than private loans because they offer fixed interest rates, income-driven repayment plans, and loan forgiveness programs. Private loans often require strong credit or a co-signer and typically lack the same borrower protections.

If you need to borrow for school, you should use the maximum amount of federal loans before considering private loans.

Not all private student loans are created equal. Interest rates, repayment terms, borrower protections, and eligibility requirements can vary widely between private lenders.

Before borrowing, compare multiple lenders and review them for their fixed versus variable interest rates, repayment flexibility, deferment options, co-signer requirements, and borrower benefits. Even a small difference in interest rates can add or save thousands of dollars to your total repayment costs over time.

Taking on student debt is a major financial decision. Whether it’s worth it often depends on your expected income, career stability, total borrowing amount, and repayment plan.

Higher debt may be more manageable in careers with strong earning potential or public service loan forgiveness, but it can become risky if repayment costs outweigh your future income or if you rely too heavily on private loans.

Consider the following factors to help you determine whether the investment makes financial sense: