Report: Students at HBCUs Have Burdensome Debt

A report from the United Negro College Fund finds that students who attend historically black colleges and universities borrow more in student loans and graduate with higher debt loads than students attending non-HBCU institutions. That's despite the lower sticker price, on average, at HBCUs.

In 2012, the report says, a quarter of HBCU graduates left college with $40,000 or more in student loan debt, or about four times as much as students elsewhere.

The report recommends increasing grant aid and work-study opportunities for low-income students, making federal student loans less costly, and improving the federal student loan servicing system.