Executive summary Graduate students carry increasingly high credit card balances. They are more likely to carry higher credit card balances than are others in the general population and are less likely to pay their balances in full each month. On the other hand, those with graduate or professional degrees earn substantially more over their lifetime than others and are less likely to be unemployed.
- The average credit card debt among graduate students who carry cards is $7,831 per student, a significant increase of 59% over 1998's average debt of $4,925.
- Median credit card debt has increased a somewhat less dramatic 32%, from $2,834 to $3,730, since 1998.
- Consistent with 1998 and up from 2000, graduate students carry an average of six cards each, and 96% of all graduate students carry credit cards. Likewise, 96% of undergraduates in their final year also carry credit cards, also with an average of six cards each.
- Graduate students accrue more than twice the average balance of final-year undergraduate students: $7,831 vs. $3,262.
- Forty percent of graduate students with cards have average balances exceeding $6,000, and 15% of graduate students have credit balances exceeding $15,000, more than twice as many as in 1998.
- Graduate business students accumulate the most credit card debt, with an average balance of $11,585.
| Graduate students from year to year | 1998 | 2000 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage who had credit cards | 95% | 95% | 96% |
| Average number of credit cards | 6 | 4 | 6 |
| Average credit card debt | $4,925 | $4,776 | $7,831 |
| Median credit card debt | $2,834 | $3,068 | $3,730 |
| Percentage with balances from $6,000–$15,000 | 22% | 20% | 25% |
| Percentage with balances exceeding $15,000 | 6% | 6% | 15% |
Download the 2003 Credit Card Study (PDF, 40KB).