A by-the-numbers look at what the federal government doles out in student loans

OTTAWA – Student loans by the numbers from the 2013-14 school year:

515,279: Full time and part-time students in receipt of financial assistance from the federal government.

$3.413 billion: Amount in assistance those students received.

$715 million: Amount of that assistance in the form of non-repayable grants.

203,028: Borrowers who couldn’t afford repayments and who had the government cover part of their interest payments.

30,656: Borrowers who couldn’t afford repayments who had the government cover payments on part of the outstanding principal and interest.

238,513: grants to students from low-income families.

$1,908: Average grant to students from low-income families.

$15,655: Average federal student debt for university graduates.

$9,452: Average federal student debt for college graduates.