student loans and wages:
Some college

some college

Ultimately, the question guiding this supplement is, for each group, does it appear that wages are sufficient to meet the cost of living in Maryland and repay student loans? To consider this question, the median loan repayment amount and the median quarterly wage amount were derived for each loan category of students with Some College [1].  

The quarterly loan payment amount [2] was added to the living wage and the sum compared to the median quarterly wage.  See Chart A.

Overall 30% of students with Some College and full-quarter wages had student loans. The quarterly student loan payments across the four loan groups ranged from a low of $150 per quarter (or $50 per month) to a high of $1,050 per quarter (or $350 per month). The living wage in Maryland is $7,841 per quarter for one adult with no dependent children [3].
The addition of a student loan to quarterly living expenses increases the cost of living from $7,841 to between $7,991 and $8,891. The median quarterly wage varied across the four groups from a low of $3,975 per quarter to a high of $5,889 per quarter.

This means that high school graduates with Some College, even when fully engaged in the workforce, have a shortfall of earnings of more than $2,000 at the lowest loan levels. Those in the highest loan category have a quarterly deficit of $4,000.

Chart A. Median Quarterly Wages, Student Loan Payment and Living Wage for High School Graduates, 2013, with Some College but no Degree Five Years after High School Graduation
Table A. Median Quarterly Wages, Student Loan Payment and Living Wage for High School Graduates, 2013, with Some College but no Degree Five Years after High School Graduation

Summary

The results presented here suggest that students who do not graduate from college are likely to struggle financially as their wages are not sufficient to cover the basic cost of living in Maryland, let alone pay for money borrowed for an incomplete college education. This population may benefit from the Maryland Higher Education Commission’s near completer program, a program designed to help students with credit accumulations close to what is required for a degree, complete their degree. Completing a degree, even a lower level undergraduate degree, may help students in this group move to higher wages that will allow them to cover the cost of living in Maryland as well as their student loan payments.

student loan Payments and Wages
by educational attainment

Select from an option below to view student loans and wages for high school graduates with a college degree, the methodology used for this report or to return to the overview.

college degree

methodology

overview
Data Limitations and Definitions:
[1] Some College is defined as a High school graduate enrolled for at least one term between fall 2013 and fall 2017 but who did not earn a postsecondary degree and who is not actively enrolled in college in the spring 2018 or fall 2018 terms.  

[2] The median loan amount was input into the federal student loan calculator using the Direct Loan specifications for a 10 year repayment plan at 5% interest. Note, not all loans in this student are direct loans, payment terms and interest rates could vary widely.  https://studentloans.gov/myDirectLoan/repaymentEstimator.action

[3] The Living Wage Calculator developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provides data on the cost of living in various geographic areas across the United States.  The living wage calculator incorporates the cost of food, housing, health insurance,transportation, taxes, clothing and other personal items to derive the minimum annual income required for basic self-sufficiency.  It is more comprehensive than traditional poverty measures, which do not incorporate these broader costs of living. More information on the MIT Living Wage Calculator is available on their website. The measure selected from the Living Wage Calculator was “required annual income before taxes” for one adult with no dependent children which was $31,365 annually or $7,841 per fiscal quarter in 2018.  This income was converted to a quarterly income to align to quarterly wage data and is referred to as the “living wage” in the remainder of this analysis. Glasmeier, Amy K. (2018).  Living Wage Calculator.  (http://livingwage.mit.edu/) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. undefined
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