Across the U.S., students are taking on increasingly large amounts of debt to pay for heftier education tuitions. Figures released last week by the Federal Reserve of New York show that aggregate student loans nationwide have continued to rise. At the end of 2003, American students and graduates owed just $253 billion in aggregate debt; by the end of 2013, American students’ debt had ballooned to a total of $1.08 trillion, an increase of over 300%. In the past year alone, aggregate student debt grew 10%. By comparison, overall debt grew just 43% in the past decade and 1.6% over the past year. According to a December study by the Institute for College Access & Success, 7 out of 10 students in the class of 2012 graduated with student loans, and the average amount of debt among students who owed was $29,400. There’s no clear end in sight. “The total amount of student debt is growing basically at a constant rate,” Wilbert van der Klaauw, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York tells TIME. “The inflow is much higher than the outflow, which is likely to continue in the future as reliance on student loans for college is expected to remain high.” (...) Students across the country are trapped by their debts and often unable to take advantage of the freedom that a college degree should theoretically afford them. Julia Handel is the marketing manager for celebrity New York chef David Burke. The 2012 Ithaca College graduate is making over $40,000 a year, which is better than many of her friends. But she had $75,000 in loans, and it’ll take her at least 15 years to pay off her debts. For now, Handel is officially on her parents’ lease but crashing with her boyfriend, pinching pennies and paying back $700 every month. She may have to give up her dream of going to culinary school, and at this point, she can definitely cross off the idea of renting her own apartment. By the time Handel pays off her loans, she may be nearly 40.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 01:06:09 +0000
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