Some 43 million people—about one-fifth of the country’s population—together owe an estimated $1.75 trillion in student loan debt. The average amount per borrower is about $40,000; for many, it stretches into six figures.

That is a lot of money going toward monthly payments that could stimulate the economy, compound in a retirement-savings account, or fund a down payment, but doesn’t. The situation is even more dire for architects. Surveys conducted by the American Institute of Architecture Students consistently show higher-than-average indebtedness. Popular five-year professional degrees require two additional semesters of tuition, and non-architecture majors must pursue a lengthy master’s. On top of this, software, model-making tools, supplies, and printing costs can run up an expensive tab. Once in the workforce, based on research by Yale’s Tobin Center for Economic Policy, graduates can expect a 4 percent return on their investment—a far cry from the 173 percent in medicine, the 41 percent in law, or even the 19 percent in civil engineering.

For designers, student loan debt also redirects funds away from the pursuit of licensure or membership in professional organizations like the American Institute of Architects (AIA), which risk losing constituents in the long run. Practitioners saddled with debt are less likely to set up small businesses of their own or buy into an existing office’s ownership if given the opportunity.

Some architects have suggested that the AIA take a more active role in repayment assistance. Although such conversations have occurred at the leadership level, whether the organization is equipped to undertake such a task remains a topic of debate. “A real solution would address the front end of the problem, and not the back end,” adds architect Mary Fol­len­weider, “but this is the reality of the situation right now.” Follenweider, a vocal advocate for reform, is particularly concerned about attrition: “How do we keep students in the pipeline? And how do we keep emerging professionals from leaving altogether?” That outcome, some studies suggest, is twice as likely for those who carry student loan debt.

On the front end, schools can lower tuition and increase financial aid—cross goals that don’t pencil out in the absence of additional funding. The Cooper Union, which offers professional and postprofessional degrees in architecture, was long seen as a paragon of free education until 2012, when it controversially announced a plan to begin charging students. (The school is aiming to return to this practice in 2028.) At Yale, Deborah Berke is currently fundraising to enable students at the architecture school, where she is dean, to graduate free of debt. “Nobody should have to borrow to pay,” she says of her ultimate goal. During her tenure, she has tripled the amount of available financial aid from $3.5 million to $9.5 million. Similarly, MIT now covers a minimum of 90 percent of tuition for M.Arch. students.

Others suggest loan caps to discourage excessive borrowing. In April, the U.S. Depart­ment of Education cemented plans to implement, effective next month, “common-sense loan limits on how much students and parents can borrow.” This framework includes a classification of NAAB-accredited graduate degrees in architecture as “nonprofession­al” for the purposes of calculating federal loan amounts. Critics, including the AIA, point out that students will close the gap by approaching private lenders, which do not offer income-based repayment, have higher interest rates, and are more likely to engage in predatory practices. Supporters argue that it will encourage more judicious financial planning.

Several architecture-focused nonprofits, which have long funded scholarships, are now offering grants for loan repayment. For example, the Michigan Architectural Foundation now awards $5,000 grants to recently licensed architects from underrepresented groups, specifically to reduce student loan balances. AIA New York provides debt relief and licensure support (up to $2,500) for aspiring architects. The Architects Foundation—the philanthropic arm of the AIA—began offering $5,000 grants a few years ago as well.

A handful of firms have stepped up to address the problem too. “We are employee owned, so we are constantly thinking about how to put profits back into our people,” says Alan Lamonica, chief people officer at HMC Architects, a 400-person practice headquartered in California that began contributing to its employees’ student debt in 2019. “For us, it’s not just about compensation or medical benefits—it’s about financial wellness.”

HMC organizes its benefit, which is administered by an external vendor, as a series of increasing contributions over a five-year period: $75 per month for the first year, $100 per month for the second, and $150 per month for the last three. These payments, plus a completion bonus of $1,500, bring the total amount of assistance to $9,000. Lamon­ica estimates that 50 to 60 people use the benefit at any one time; to date, the firm has contributed over half a million dollars. “The idea is to help them accelerate through their own payments,” he says, but if staff need to pause their own contributions, that’s an option. “We’re trying to solve a problem, not add barriers.” HMC enjoys high retention, and Lamonica cites this offering as one of several reasons why.

These kinds of benefits are possible at smaller practices too. Hoffmann Architects + Engineers, a 40-person firm on the East Coast, began offering repayment assistance in 2021 by taking advantage of a provision established in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Sec­urity (CARES) Act. The incentive allows employers to contribute up to $5,250 per employee per year on a tax-free basis. (The provision, originally set to expire this year, was extended indefinitely during the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025.) Hoff­mann administers the benefit, which is available to full-time staff after three months of employment, entirely in-house.

“Over the last few years, we had a few senior people retire—they didn’t have any student loan debt. I’m retiring in February, and I haven’t had student loan debt for 40 or 50 years,” says founder John J. Hoffmann, pointing out that younger leaders will be in a very different situation. “We have to help people navigate these challenging issues for it to make sense, financially, to stay in the field,” adds firm president and CFO Avi Kamrat, “whether that’s by easing debt, offering generous parental leave, or providing 401(k) benefits.”

At Hoffmann, staff provide proof of payment and then are reimbursed for half the amount, up to the allowable maximum. Since starting the program in 2021, the firm has contributed more than $125,000, and about 40 percent of staff are now using the benefit.

Although HMC and Hoffmann both show that indebtedness is a challenge that firms of different sizes can successfully address, this kind of offering remains exceedingly rare. According to the 2025 AIA Compensation and Benefits Report, which queried 817 firms in 34 states across the country, only 2 percent of firms with 50 to 99 employees and 4 percent of firms with 100 or more employees contributed toward student loan repayment. At firms of the same sizes, respectively, 28 and 35 percent contribute to tuition for part- time students; 91 and 95 percent cover the cost of ARE exams.

Student debt isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, considering that forgiveness programs are hotly contested and have become politicized. Indeed, indebted individuals agreed to the terms of their loans (including repayment). But many first-generation college students in particular, when making decisions so early in adulthood, are often unaware of the crushing burden that they will face down the line. Some may have been pushed away from vocational training and toward college, which isn’t a universal solution either. But one thing remains true: next month, with the end of pandemic-era pauses on federal student loan payments, this long-simmering problem may reach a boiling point.