Student Loan Statistics by Age and Income Band
Brendon Steen made this Official Information request to Ministry of Social Development
The request was successful.
From: Brendon Steen
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
From: OIA_Requests (MSD)
Ministry of Social Development
Dear Brendon Steen,
Thank you for your email received 13 June 2012, under the Official Information Act 1982. Your request has been forwarded to the appropriate officials at National office to respond. You may expect a response to be sent to you as soon as possible.
Regards
Official and Parliamentary Information team | Ministerial and Executive Services
Ministry of Social Development
-----Original Message-----
From: Brendon Steen [mailto:[OIA #357 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 12 June 2012 8:29 p.m.
To: Info (MSD)
Subject: Official Information Act request - 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
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From: Tanya Howlett
Ministry of Social Development
Dear Brendon
Please find attached a letter from the Ministry of Social Development, transferring your request to IRD.
Kind regards
Tanya
Tanya Howlett
Manager, Official and Parliamentary Information
Ministry of Social Development
Ph: 916 3638 Internal extn: 42638
Please consider the environment before printing this email and its attachments.
Avoid printing, or print double-sided if you can.
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This email and any attachments may contain information that is confidential and subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution or duplication of this email and attachments is prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify the author immediately and erase all copies of the email and attachments. The Ministry of Social Development accepts no responsibility for changes made to this message or attachments after transmission from the Ministry.
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From: Commissioners Correspondence
Hello,
On behalf of A P Donoghue, Acting Manager Commissioner's correspondence,
please find an acknowledgement of your Official Information Act request of
12 June 2012 attached.
Thank you
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From: Commissioners Correspondence
Dear Mr Steen
Thank you for your request concerning details of student loan borrowers
incomes, loan balances and the age of their loans. We are working on your
request but wish to clarify that our understanding of the format and
information you require is correct. Could you please review the attached
spread sheet and confirm that we have correctly interpreted your request.
Kind regards
Craig Press
On behalf of the Manager, Commissioner’s correspondence
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From: 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
From: Commissioners Correspondence
Hello,
On behalf of Katrina Williams, Director, Future Direction Change Projects,
please find attached a response to your Official Information Act request
of 21 June 2012.
Thank you
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have received this email or any attachment in error, please delete the
email / attachment, and notify the sender. Please do not copy, disclose or
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From: Brendon Steen
Dear Commissioners Correspondence,
Thank you for your assistance with this request.
Yours sincerely,
Brendon Steen
From: 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
From: Commissioners Correspondence
Dear Mr Steen,
Thank you for contacting Inland Revenue regarding an omission in the
response we sent to you earlier today. I have attached an amended response
that includes the single line of data that was omitted from the previous
response in error.
I apologise for any inconvenience caused.
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have received this email or any attachment in error, please delete the
email / attachment, and notify the sender. Please do not copy, disclose or
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Consider the environment before deciding to print: avoid printing if you
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