According to data released by the National Science Foundation, Blacks who earned doctorates in 2012 had an average of $54,132 in debt from educational loans. Whites who earned doctorates had average educational debts of $25,992.
Blacks were more likely than Whites to have the highest levels of debt. Some 26.5 percent of Blacks who earned doctorates owed more than $90,000. Only 12.4 percent of Whites who earned doctorates in 2012 had debts of more than $90,000.
More than 42 percent of Whites awarded doctorates in 2012 earned their degrees having accumulated no educational-related debt. Whites were far more likely than Blacks to graduate debt-free. Only 20 percent of Blacks earning doctorates had accumulated no educational debt.
