Student loan debt is the fastest growing form of debt in the US, and it’s being cited as the biggest reason for millennials to hold off on buying a home.

Unfortunately, as student loan debt has risen, federal student aid has been cut significantly and when it comes to students and federal funds, the money is only really going in one direction these days.

The US Department of Education has a loan portfolio with $1.44 trillion to its name. With a figure like that, you could confuse the department for being a bank or a strict lender of debt. Despite this, the Department of Education does give out a lot to students in rewards and aid. Unfortunately, aid for students is on a steep decline, and according to Student Loan Hero, there are currently 1.6 million students uncovered compared to 8 years ago. This is made worse by the fact that federal grant awards are tapering off faster than post-secondary enrollment in the US. To put this into perspective, according to Student Loan Hero, 1.6 million additional students would have received grants for the 2017-2018 school year if student age had been decreasing at the same pace as enrollment.

Between the academic years of 2011 and 2018, there was a 23.6% decrease in the number of students receiving grants. When compared to the 6.4% decrease in enrollment, it’s clear that it is extremely rare to catch a financial break when it comes to college. Grants of various different purposes are facing a sharp decline, including Pell Grants, which provides grants for the most financially needy students.