Millions of young people are starting their adult lives with an average of $29,000 of loans of their backs.
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We’re talking over $1.1 trillion in student loans.
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The easy availability of loans gave colleges a huge incentive to keep jacking prices up. College is now ten times more expensive than it was in 1990.
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38.8 million Americans owe money on a student loan.
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Interest rates on loans can be two and three times the rate for a car or a home.
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In 2013, the federal government’s student loans made almost as much profit as Apple and Exxon-Mobil.
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Sallie Mae, the largest provider of private student loans made $949 million last year.
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A 2012 study by the Associated Press showed that over half of kids graduating in 2012 could not find a decent paying job.
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One third of the people who started repaying their loans are delinquent or in default. That’s 6 million people, or more than the population of Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco combined.
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Seven million students have defaulted on their loans.
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More than six and a half million students are delinquent.
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Many loans require co-signers. So if the student is unable to pay, that co-signer - a father, a mother, a grandparent - is now on the hook.
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Even a grandparent’s social security benefits can be garnished to pay the loan.
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After all, if you get really behind in your car payment or your credit cards, you can file for bankruptcy, go to court and get a fresh start. But in 1998, Congress made it nearly impossible to get rid of federal loans through bankruptcy. And in 2005, they did the same for private student loans.
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