On average, a one percentage point increase in Great Recession unemployment rates caused a 7% rise in total outstanding debt and 6% rise in defaulted borrowers. Across institutional sectors, the Great Recession accounted on average for between 19-32% of the total increase in undergraduate student debt and 10-25% of the total increase in defaults. Borrowers who were students at the onset of the recession saw the largest effects on accrued debt, due to delayed graduation and lengthened enrollment spells.

View the Full Working Paper