Robb Mandelbaum

SBA Loans: Following the Money

 

By: Robb Mandelbaum

The Small Business Administration's efforts to make smaller loans available to more people seem to have produced mixed results for women and minorities. On the one hand, they have had more loans approved each year since 2002 -- but because the loans have been smaller, the percentage of total SBA-backed loan dollars approved for women and minorities has not grown nearly as quickly (except for Asian applicants). Both loans and loan dollars to rural borrowers, on the other hand, have substantially increased. The only group to show a markedly decreasing share of SBA loans is veterans, as the tables below illustrate.

7(a) loans:

2002 2004 2006
Total number of loans approved 51,666 81,133 97,290
Dollar volume of approved loans ($1,000s) $12,208,027 $13,571,560 $14,523,927
Average loan size $236,287 $236,287 $149,285
Loans to African-Americans 3.9% 5.7% 7.2%
Loan dollars to African Americans 3.0% 3.0% 4.1%
Loans to Hispanics 7.6% 8.7% 10.6%
Loan dollars to Hispanics 6.2% 6.7% 7.9%
Loans to Asians 12.9% 13.6% 13.3%
Loan dollars to Asians 19.8% 19.9% 20.8%
Loans to women 20.1% 21.7% 22.5%
Loan dollars to women 15.4% 16.1% 18.3%
Rural loans 13.7 21.6% 20.4%
Rural loan dollars 13.6% 21.4% 21.6%
Loans to veterans 10.5% 9.7% 7.5%
Loan dollars to veterans 10.4% 9.9% 7.0%

504 loans:

2002 2004 2006
Total number of loans approved 5,480 8,357 9,943
Dollar volume of approved loans ($1,000s) $2,473,328 $4,000,473 $5,729,695
Average loan size ($1,000s) $451 $479 $576
Loans to African-Americans 2.3% 2.2% 2.4%
Loan dollars to African Americans 1.9% 2.0% 1.8%
Loans to Hispanics 6.2% 7.3% 8.3%
Loan dollars to Hispanics 5.2% 6.1% 6.9%
Loans to Asians 11.1% 13.2% 15.1%
Loan dollars to Asians 15.2% 17.5% 21.2%
Loans to women 16.8% 16.8% 15.8%
Loan dollars to women 14.5% 15.5% 13.7%
Rural loans 21.8 27.3% 27.3%
Rural loan dollars 20.1% 24.1% 23.9%
Loans to veterans 8.1% 7.5% 4.7%
Loan dollars to veterans 8.5% 7.7% 4.5%

Source: Small Business Administration

Does the SBA Still Matter?