for example, our research suggests that higher student debt and delinquencies reduce household formation and depress homeownership. but there are many important questions still left unanswered. what is the relationship between the amount and type of educational investment that people make and their outcomes? what attributes are associated with borrowers who are more successful at payback time? measuring progress on student debt repayment. bis central bankers ’ speeches repaying their student loans? are there particular types of degrees that are associated with better performance with respect to student debt repayment or with better living standards earlier in life? what are the best interventions to help borrowers avoid the consequences of delinquency and default, and to limit any default costs to taxpayers? do borrowers who use programs like income - based repayment eventually succeed in paying off their debts? how do income - based repayment programs affect important decisions such as labor supply, consumption and household formation? these are important questions for the nation, as the human capital of our citizens is far and away our most important asset, and student loans are an important mechanism for financing needed investments in that asset. but it is very hard to answer these questions with existing data. we need to link information on borrower decisions about the kind and amount of education they receive to long - run outcomes for them and for the overall economy. so i commend to you the work before you – finding new ways to get the information that policymakers need to answer important questions about how we finance higher education. i look forward to your insights and recommendations. bis central bankers ’ speeches

. at the new york fed, we ’ ve been able to develop products that support a much better understanding of the household sector ’ s borrowing behavior, ranging from loan - level mortgage information to credit card utilization and borrowing limits. this has greatly improved our knowledge of household debt burdens, new borrowing activity, debt repayment as well as delinquencies. we ’ ve made a point of passing along these insights to the public through our quarterly report on household debt and credit, various blog posts and interactive online maps of mortgage delinquencies. it has required a substantial commitment of resources to obtain the data and extract the information from them, but i ’ m convinced that it ’ s been the right course of action. which brings me to the subject of today ’ s workshop : student loans. as you know, student debt is an increasingly important form of credit both for households and for the economy. in 2010, aggregate outstanding student loan balances surpassed credit card indebtedness, and in 2013 eclipsed a trillion dollars. during the historic household deleveraging that took place between 2008 and 2013, student debt bucked the trend, and was the only form of household credit that continued to increase each year. bis central bankers ’ speeches there are many reasons for this growth, some of which are well - documented – including increasing numbers of individuals who are pursuing post - secondary education, increasing durations in school and higher tuitions. a less well - known contributor to the growing student debt balances was highlighted recently by a team of new york fed economists. 1 using credit bureau data that track the quarterly balance and payment status of student loans, they have shown that the overall rate of repayment of outstanding student loans is very low, with many borrowers being delinquent on their loans. now, it ’ s probably fair to say that each form of household debt has distinctive features. a researcher must understand these differences in order to understand the role that a particular kind of debt plays in household decision - making. but student debt is perhaps the most distinctive form. let me explain what i mean. unlike virtually all other forms of credit, student loans are generally not underwritten : they are frequently offered to young borrowers who have little or no credit history and little to no current income. the amount of credit extended, on average, runs in the tens of thousands of dollars. these loans are also not collateralized, nor are the interest rates risk - based. however, lenders ( now