Black Students Enrolled in Master’s Degree Programs Are Facing Rising Amounts of Debt

New data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that 81.7 percent of all black students enrolled in master’s degree programs received some amount of financial aid. But for all the black students who receive financial assistance of any type, only 40 percent receive outright scholarship grants.

More than 57 percent of all black students in master’s degree programs take on debt in order to finance their education. Only 38 percent of white graduate students take out student loans. Black students who take out student loans incur an average annual debt of $14,300, $1,200 more than the average annual debt load incurred by whites.

The unwillingness to take on such a large amount of debt undoubtedly causes many black students to forgo graduate or professional school education.