The Expansion of Private Loans in Postsecondary Education, a Statistics in Brief, examines trends in borrowing from commercial lenders for postsecondary education, the characteristics of undergraduate and graduate private loan borrowers, and combining private and federal loans. Results are based on nationally representative data collected through the 2003–04 and 2007–08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS:04 and NPSAS:08).