SAN DIEGO — Following President Biden’s student debt announcement, we are taking a closer look at what numbers look like right here in California.
Ten percent of Californians owe student debt.
“About 3.8 million people in California then have some sort of student debt," UC San Diego Chief Economist Alan Gin said. "On average, they owe about $37,000.”
California is the largest state- so naturally, he says the state has more debt than the rest. Per capita however, he said California is 13th.
“The average student debt was somewhere around $37,200," Gin said. "So we're just slightly below the average.”
If $37,000 is the state's average, what’s the highest amount someone owes?
“About 3% of the borrowers in California owe more than two hundred thousand,” Gin said.
The least?
“About 16% of the people who owe money owe less than $5,000."
Gin disagrees with Harvard economists who believe this could raise the cost of tuition
“Because this could be a one time thing," Gin explained. "So schools can't count on the fact that student debt is going to be forgiven in the future.”
Or that a one-time forgiveness is inflationary.
“I think if you just given people $10,000, people would would take that and probably go out and spend it and that could put some inflationary impact as far as the economy is concerned," Gin explained. "But what you're doing here is you're forgiving people's debts. So, you used to owe $50,000 and now now you're going to owe $40,000. So I don't think then that people are gonna go out and spend a bunch of money.”
Gin said that 52% of those who owe student debt in California are under 35-years-old, and he said that’s concerning because it shows how much more expensive it is to get a higher education in recent years.
He said it’s impacting their life decisions, like not being able to purchase a home, which is also worse in the long run.
WATCH RELATED: Biden announces student loan relief for borrowers making less than $125,000 (August 2022)