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Congressional staffers' student-loan debt, by the numbers

Dec 16, 2021, 18:15 IST
Business Insider
Hundreds of congressional staffers have student loans, Insider has learned.AP Photo/Seth Wenig
  • Nearly 360 high-ranking congressional staffers have student loans.
  • About half would be debt-free if Democrats canceled $50,000 per borrower.
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As part of the exhaustive Conflicted Congress project, Insider reviewed thousands of financial-disclosure reports for top-ranking staffers to determine whether they have student-loan debt — a topic of significant debate on Capitol Hill.

Here's what Insider discovered, by the numbers:

Overall

  • Total number of House staffers (Legistorm estimate): 10,832
  • Total number of Senate staffers: 6,804
  • High-ranking House staffers who filed timely 2020-21 financial disclosures (Insider analysis): 1,223
  • High-ranking Senate staffers who filed timely 2020-21 financial disclosures: 964
  • Total high-ranking House and Senate staffers with outstanding student-loan debt: 356
  • Total number of outstanding student loans (combined): 512

Financials

  • Over $250,001 in student-loan debt: 44
  • Between $100,001 and $250,000 in student-loan debt: 73
  • Between $50,001 and $100,000 in student- loan debt: 71
  • Between $15,001 and $50,000 in student-loan debt: 110
  • Under $15,000 in student-loan debt: 51
  • Longest-held student loan: 32 years
  • Most student loans taken in a single year: 7 (2012)
  • Most student loans carried by one person: 11 (2007-09)
  • Longest gap between taking student loans: 18 years (1997, 2015)
  • Borrowers taking multiple student loans in a single year: 38
  • Borrowers taking student loans two or more years in a row: 33
  • Lowest agreed-upon student-loan rate: 0.125% (30 years)
  • Highest agreed-upon student-loan rate: 11.71% (15 years)

Existing student loans by decade

  • 1980s: 1
  • 1990s: 17
  • 2000s: 197
  • 2010s: 278
  • 2020s: 18

Political alignment with student-loan debt

  • House Democratic staffers: 120
  • House Republican staffers: 88
  • Nonpartisan committee staffers: 15
  • Senate Democratic staffers: 63
  • Senate Republican staffers: 70
  • Works for House or Senate leaders: 38
  • Works for a congressional committee with jurisdiction over student-debt relief: 23

Student-loan debtors by job title (in descending order of frequency)

  • Chief of staff: 88
  • Chief counsel: 27
  • Professional staff: 27
  • Deputy chief of staff: 17
  • Legislative director: 17
  • Counsel: 16
  • Communications director: 13
  • General counsel: 13
  • Staff director: 12
  • Senior advisor: 11
  • Deputy staff director: 10

Student-loan debtors by state delegation (in descending order of frequency)

  • California: 40
  • New York: 20
  • Michigan: 14
  • Florida: 13
  • Texas: 13
  • North Carolina: 12
  • Illinois: 11
  • South Carolina:11
  • Washington: 11
  • Alabama: 10
  • Georgia: 10
  • Kentucky: 9
  • Pennsylvania: 9
  • Oregon: 8
  • Virginia: 8
  • Arizona: 7
  • Iowa: 7
  • Louisiana: 7
  • New Jersey: 7
  • Vermont: 7
  • Idaho: 6
  • Minnesota: 6
  • Mississippi: 6
  • Oklahoma: 6
  • Wisconsin: 6
  • Massachusetts: 5
  • Missouri: 5
  • Ohio: 5
  • Tennessee: 5
  • Colorado: 4
  • Kansas: 4
  • New Hampshire: 4
  • New Mexico: 4
  • Rhode Island: 4
  • Utah: 4
  • West Virginia: 4
  • Connecticut: 3
  • Delaware: 3
  • Maryland: 3
  • Montana: 3
  • Nevada: 3
  • South Dakota: 3
  • Indiana: 2
  • Maine: 2
  • Nebraska: 2
  • Alaska: 1
  • Arkansas: 1
  • Hawaii: 1
  • North Dakota: 1
  • Wyoming: 0

"High-ranking staffers" include congressional aides who earn at least $132,552 a year. Such staffers are required to file annual financial disclosures with congressional officials.

Those who earn less are not required to file such financial disclosures — meaning there could be thousands of additional student-loan-debt-laden staffers toiling on Capitol Hill.

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