Nitro Research


Last Updated: December 13, 2022

It’s time to take control of your life.
Time to get a grip on your finances.
After all, you’ve earned the right.

Here at Nitro we take pride in the research we conduct, information/data we collect and offer to our users. So we wanted to make it easier for you to find and read.

Here is a list of Nitro's research content you can find below:

COVID-19 & Fall 2020: How the pandemic is impacting college decisions

With May 1st ‘Decision Day’ Looming, 69% of Parents and 55% of Students Say Coronavirus Has Impacted Their Ability to Pay for College.

Current high school seniors and their families are facing unprecedented uncertainty as they attempt to finalize their college plans before National College Decision Day, which traditionally falls on May 1.

We surveyed over 6,500 high school seniors and their parents to find out how the pandemic is impacting their college decisions. The data reveals several trends that could reshape the fall 2020 college semester

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Average Student Loan Debt: 2022 Statistics in the United States

The value of a college degree has never been higher – at least in financial terms. Over the past decade, the cost of a university education has risen three times faster than other school-related expenses. Most students finance at least some of that cost by taking out student loans, with the goal of having their investment pay off with higher earnings down the road.

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Student Loan Payback Progress

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As of 2017, student debt hit its all time high of 1.4 trillion dollars.

And that number may grow year over year, which is why it’s important to understand how graduates manage their debts. What would they do differently with their education or loans if given a chance? Do they regret seeking a college degree? And how does school debt affect borrowers? We asked over 1,000 Americans these questions and more. Here’s what we learned.

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The Details of Debt

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For some, taking on debt is a necessary part of paying for the things we need (and want). But debt requires future payments, which can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety for many people. We surveyed 1,000 Americans to explore how their debt – or absence of debt – impacts their quality of life. The results reveal thoughts on debt and how having a plan to pay it off can have a large impact on a person’s overall well-being.

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The Dollars and Debt of Doctors

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Becoming a doctor is a lifelong dream for many Americans, and while getting a medical degree can be a costly pursuit, there are 88,304 students currently enrolled in U.S. medical schools. In 2016, 18,938 students graduated with medical degrees.

To explore at what cost a medical degree comes, we explored medical professionals’ finances, including their student loan debt, medical school tuition, pay satisfaction, and the pay growth of particular medical specialties. Continue reading to see what we discovered.

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Financial Advice by Generation

Everyone makes mistakes. By the time most people have crested out of their 20s and into older adulthood, experts say it’s not uncommon to look back and wish some things had been done differently. Maybe you spent too much time focused on work and not enough at home with family. You might think you’ve invested in the wrong career choice or maybe not taken care of your body well enough.

Whatever it is, in most cases it’s not too late to make a change. Few things in life are permanent after all, and there’s nothing wrong with deciding to take a different path when it comes to your career or personal life.

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The Typical American Financial Life

How does your own financial path compare to that of the average American? From opening your very first bank account to tapping into your 401(k) in retirement, life is full of financial rites of passage. As we grow older, we find new opportunities to invest in our futures, either by putting some cash away in savings or by taking on debt to fund our next big step. But whichever monetary benchmark is next on your list, you may wonder where you stand in comparison to your peers.

After all, most of us are pretty private about all things fiscal, so it’s hard to know if you’re ahead of the crowd or falling far behind. And while there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all financial plan, it would be nice to learn when most folks hit the big benchmarks, if only to learn where we stand in comparison.

We asked over 1,200 Americans...

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Life After Law School

The average law school student borrows over $112,000 to pay for school, and before 2008, educational advisors looked at law school like a “sure thing.” Programs were more competitive, and the job market after graduation was more lucrative. Since the recession, things have changed a bit. The number of people applying to the top U.S. law schools in 2016 fell by over 20% compared to the number of applicants in 2008.

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Young, Single, And Career-Oriented

Millennials have been called “lazy,” “entitled,” “selfish,” and “demanding,” but despite accusations that they’re ruining the modern workforce, more young people today are making sacrifices for their careers than they may get credit for.

In reality, when it comes to landing their dream jobs, millennials often have a strong desire to make a large impact. Even if their first or current gig isn’t where they hope to ultimately land, working hard to develop a foundation of knowledge and a growing network of professional contacts could be the boost they need to reach their goal in the future.  

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Friendly Competition

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Have you ever heard the news that a friend got a new job or fancy car or seen photos of your friends on amazing vacations while scrolling through social media? Did you immediately start to compare your own life and accomplishments to theirs? If you’re a millennial, you’ve probably set strict expectations for yourself.

Comparing yourself to those around you is a natural response to life and can help motivate us in certain situations. But for millennials, this can escalate to “ruthless” proportions based on extreme standards leading to anxiety and uncertainty. But does the reality to which they compare themselves exist only on social media, or is this not quite accurate? Research has shown spending too much time trying to measure up to what is seen on social networks like Facebook can have a damaging impact on people’s mental health and can create feelings of depression.

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Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venmo

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venmo: Our study of recent Venmo usage by gender.

“Separate checks, please!” The waiter looks at all twelve of you and asks, “And how would you like to split that?”

Venmo has revolutionized the way people send and receive money. And it’s insanely popular with millennials. Now, when spending money on food and drinks, rent, tickets, and everything else where costs are often shared, Venmo users can easily and instantly send money to other people or businesses via their mobile devices.

Part of the app’s success comes from the fact that it has embraced the way many younger people communicate. It requires each user to compose a short description for each transaction, and encourages them to use emojis when they write. Venmo then publishes this transaction information on a public feed.

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From Relatives To Roommates

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Experts suggest there are five important paths all young people take to adulthood: finishing school, moving out, getting a stable job, getting married, and becoming parents.

You probably don’t have to look very far, though, to find young people who’ve put on hold one or more of these transitions to independence. The idea of what constitutes a stable job is changing, marriage rates are down, more and more millennials are putting off having kids, and Americans collectively owe an estimated $1.4 trillion in student loan debt.

So what’s really holding young adults back from checking more milestones off their list even though they want to?

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Lending To Life Goals

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From renting your first apartment to retirement, most of life’s major milestones have a monetary component. And if individuals encounter new costs at each stage of life, just wait until kids become part of the equation. Caring for a child requires serious cash, and that’s before the college tuition bills start rolling in. Looking further down the road, we need to plan to take care of ourselves as we age. From a liveable fixed income to unpredictable healthcare costs, the golden years demand plenty of green. Those demands could present a problem for the majority of millennials who currently have nothing saved for retirement.

Life shouldn’t be assessed in dollars and cents – no ledger holds the secret to happiness. But it would be nice to know how much most people have saved for major life events, so we can gauge if we’re keeping up.

 In this project, we asked over 1,000 people to estimate their financial...

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Chasing The Dream  Or The Green?

Are workers in search of money or meaning? Among academics and executives across the country, this essential question remains unresolved. And as millennials come to dominate the American workforce, the conflict between idealism and income seems more important than ever.

In one camp, experts emphasize office culture and creative freedom as the keys to employee engagement. If workers feel empowered to do meaningful work, these theorists argue, they’re unlikely to feel stifled in their roles. Additionally, recent studies indicate millennial professionals feel more drawn to noble causes than earlier generations. As they weigh job prospects, young workers are attracted to companies that value the “double bottom line”: profitability coupled with social purpose.

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Perceptions Of Prosperity

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There’s no one definitive way to measure success. When it comes to your job, you might rate your accomplishments by titles or a feeling of purpose in your day-to-day work. When it comes to family, maybe your vision of success is how happy your children are, or how well they do at school. Perhaps you consider yourself to be well-off by receiving a quality education and successfully paying off student loans. Even people we perceive as being overwhelmingly successful tend to have very different definitions of what makes them so great at the things they do.

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Debt Regret

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Let’s be honest: On the subject of financing significant expenses, there’s little consensus – and plenty of strong feelings.

Some see responsible borrowing as a path to financial stability, empowering prudent investments such as higher education. Others view loans as liabilities and caution against assuming debt unwisely. On the spectrum between these competing perspectives, how do most Americans approach paying off purchases? We endeavored to find out.

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Budget By The Buck

You may have heard it from friends and family or have seen it on any number of personal finance blogs or websites: You need a budget.

Even if you think you’ve got your money under control, or you aren’t living paycheck to paycheck, most finance gurus and experts will tell you that budgeting is one of, if not, the most important factors for managing your money successfully. Other actions like refinancing your student loans (if you have them) can be very beneficial under a number of circumstances, but budgeting is almost universal. And not having a budget in place is one of the quickest ways to land in debt. Not only can you lose track of the money you’re already spending, you may have no idea how much you could (or should) be saving.

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Millennial Living

In recent years, an increasingly common living arrangement for young people between the ages of 18 and 34 hasn’t been getting a small apartment or moving in with friends: It’s living with their parents.

There’s another narrative about millennials you may have also heard. They love living in some of the country’s most popular (and sometimes expensive) cities and will do almost anything to get there. However, both choices depict two very different financial truths for what it means to be young and independent in America today.

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Habits Of Financially Secure People

Have you ever driven past a billboard for a massive lottery jackpot or seen a contest promising a hefty cash prize and wondered how being rich might change your life?

You probably wouldn’t have to work a traditional job, and you’d certainly have more freedom for your passions. Maybe you’d pay off your student loans, work less, and travel more. While money can’t buy happiness outright, a sudden influx of it could certainly make you happier.

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Waiting For Wedding Bells

After two or four years of college, your life can undergo a massive change. One time majoring in business and headed for a career in finance, you may have swapped Wall Street for Broadway after uncovering a love for theater. After traveling abroad for a semester, you could have decided to make an international lifestyle a permanent affair. You most likely made friends you’ll stay in touch with for years to come – at least digitally. You may have also even met the love of your life between freshman orientation and graduation day.

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Dating And Debt

Debt truly makes the world go ’round. It is the ultimate stepping stone toward getting an education, owning a home, driving away in a new car, and financing essential purchases that you may not be able to pay for upfront. While the word “debt” can sometimes feel extremely heavy, shrouded in stigma and misplaced shame, good debt can actually be quite healthy.

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Remake The School System

More than 44 million Americans owe a collective $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. For the first time in history, that figure has eclipsed credit card debt and auto loan commitments, and it only continues to rise.

In fact, student loans equate to more than $30,000 for a quarter of millennials and over $100,000 for more than 1 in 10 people. And while 22% of adults between the ages of 18 and 34 came out of school debt-free, many more are tied to high monthly payments that could alter how they handle future finances.

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