[author: John L. Culhane, Jr.]

The Pew Research Center has just released a report that seems likely to bolster the CFPB’s concerns about student loans. The report notes that “in nearly every demographic and economic category” more households are borrowing more money to finance the cost of a college education. Perhaps not surprisingly, the report indicates that those households now facing the greatest debt burden are both younger and less well off than their counterparts.

Nonetheless, on what we see as a possibly hopeful note, the report concludes that even though student debt is rising, average household debt is on the decline. The report is based on an analysis of data from the triennial Survey of Consumer Finances conducted by the Federal Reserve Board.