Student Loan Statistics by Age and Income Band

Dear Ministry of Social Development,

I write to request information on the distribution of Student Loan
debt by age and income band of borrowers, as well as the age of the
debt. I note that StudyLink, part of the MSD, publishes some
detailed statistics on its website including a table titled
"Distribution of Student Loan recipients by age and gender." It is
not immediately clear from the information on the website, but I
believe that information refers only to borrowers who received a
student loan grant during the reporting period. What I am
interested in is information about all borrowers who still carry
student loan debt.

I appreciate that the Ministry may not hold data in the particular
form requested, so have phrased parts of the questions that follow
as preferred methods of categorisation. If I can assist with
clarifying any of my requests, please contact me and I will be
happy to do so.

I have also not specified any particular period for which the data
I ask for relates - I would appreciate answers to refer to whatever
is the most recent set of complete data available.

Questions:

(1) What are the total numbers of people who owe money on Student
Loans, broken down by age of borrowers?

(1A) Preferably the age brackets referred to in (1) would start at
age 16 and increase in 2- or 3-year increments.

(2) What is the total value of the student loan debt owed by those
referred to in (1), for each of the age brackets?

(3) What are the total numbers of people who owe money on Student
Loans, broken down by the annual taxable income of borrowers?

(3A) Preferably the income brackets referred to in (1) would start
at $0pa and increase in $5,000 or $10,000 increments (before tax
and other deductions).

(4) What is the total value of the student loan debt owed by those
referred to in (3), for each of the income brackets?

(5) What are the total numbers of people who owe money on student
loans, broken down by the age of the debt, in years?

(5A) Preferably the age of debt referred to in (5) would be broken
down into 1-year increments, with an assumption that debt incurred
in the first year of study is paid off first, and so on. So a
student who studied for three years, incurring $10,000 of debt each
year, and has paid off $20,000 of their debt will, five years after
starting their studies, have $10,000 of debt aged at 3 years.

(6) What is the total value of the student loan debt owed by those
referred to in (5), for each of the age of debt brackets?

I thank you for your assistance with this request. I realise that
some or all of the information requested may not be held by the
MSD. If that is the case, any assistance that you could offer in
identifying which other bodies may hold the requested information
would be very much appreciated.

Yours faithfully,

Brendon Steen

Dear Mr Press,

Thank you for your email. Yes, the format set out on the attached
spreadsheet is exactly what I am looking for.

Could you please just clarify my understanding of the third section
(age of debt). I take it from the comment in the spreadsheet that
someone who, say, studied for five years will, a further five years
after completing their study, have an age of debt of ten years,
regardless of how much they have left to pay or at what point
during their study the debt was incurred (presuming of course that
some debt was incurred in year one).

Thank you for your help with this request,

Brendon Steen

Dear Commissioners Correspondence,

Thank you for your assistance with this request.

Yours sincerely,

Brendon Steen

Dear Commissioners Correspondence,

Looking at the response provided in more detail I notice that in
the third table (loan balance by income band), the income band
">$80K – $90K" seems to have been omitted. I overlooked this
omission, which also appears in your request for clarification, on
22 June.

I am sure this is in error. Could you please advise if there is
some reason why these numbers are missing? If the missing
information is simply an oversight, I would appreciate an update
with the two additional numbers so the data is complete.

Yours sincerely,

Brendon Steen