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.
| 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% |
| 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