The maximum amount that any student can borrow is adjusted as federal policies change. Current loan limits are below the cost of most four year private institutions and most flagship public universities, and students therefore typically borrow higher cost private student loans to make up the difference. Scholars have advocated increasing federal debt limits to reduce the interest charges to student debtors.[48]
The maximum amount that any student can borrow is adjusted as federal policies change. A study published in the winter 1996 edition of the Journal of Student Financial Aid, “How Much Student Loan Debt Is Too Much?” suggested that the monthly student debt payment for the average undergraduate should not exceed 8% of total monthly income after graduation. Some financial aid advisers have referred to this as "the 8% rule." Circumstances vary for individuals, so the 8% level is an indicator, not a rule set in stone. A research report about the 8% level is available at the Iowa College Student Aid Commission.[61] Out of 100 students who ever attended a for-profit, 23 defaulted within 12 years of starting college in the 1996 cohort compared to 43 in the 2004 cohort (compared to an increase from just 8 to 11 students among entrants who never attended a for-profit).[62]