Five Percent of Recent Grads Say They'll Never Pay Off Their Debt

On the same day that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Education, and Department of Treasury release a joint Request for Information (RFI) about student loan servicing, the website MagnifyMoney.com has released the results of a survey of student loan borrowers about their finances.

They surveyed 1,000 adults under age 35 who graduated since 2011 and among other things, asked about their biggest regrets. One of the top three responses was not being more careful about debt and loans. These were the other responses to this question:

• Not contributing enough to savings / retirement: 31%
• Not learning practical finance / credit skills in school: 26%
• Not being more careful about debt and loans: 23%
• Not establishing credit sooner: 19%
• Getting hit with fees: 12%
• Missing payments: 10%
• Other: 5%

As for the borrowers’ confidence about their loans, the study revealed that 60% believe they’ll be able to pay them off in 10 years or less, while 5% said they will ‘never’ be able to pay off all the debt.