Gender Differences in Educational Debt Levels for Doctoral Students

According to data released by the National Science Foundation, women who earned doctorates in 2012 had an average of $24,120 in debt from educational loans. Men who earned doctorates had average educational debts of $19,203.

Women were more likely than men to have the highest levels of debt. Some 8.8 percent of women who earned doctorates owed more than $90,000. Only 5.8 percent of men who earned doctorates in 2012 had debts of more than $90,000.

Nearly half of all women awarded doctorates in 2012 earned their degrees having accumulated no educational-related debt. Men were more likely than women to graduate debt-free. Some 54.1 percent of men earning doctorates had accumulated no educational debt.