This issue brief answers the following key questions about private student loan borrowers:
• What types of academic programs and institutions do private student loan borrowers
attend?
• What is the demographic profile of undergraduate private student loan borrowers and
how do these students differ from those who don’t use these loans?
• What other types of financial aid—especially federal student loans—do private
borrowers receive?
• What share of students forgo federal student loans and rely exclusively on private loans?
• What factors might help explain this behavior?