Student Loan - Loans and Debt Consolidation

MONEY MATTERS NEW YORK POST

Money matters

Avoid the backbreaking burden of a huge college debt

By ERIKA PRAFDER

Last Updated: 1:31 PM, October 11, 2010

Posted: 1:21 PM, October 11, 2010

As of June of this year, our country s student loan debt exceeded our national credit card debt.

Since it peaked at $975 billion in September of 2008, credit card debt is now at $150 billion, according to the Federal Reserve s 2010 G.19 report, but student loan debt has increased over the past four years to about $300 billion, according to Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org, who has studied data from the US Department of Education, college boards and private student loans.

There is an increase in college costs, and need-based grants haven t been keeping pace with the surge in tuitions, he says.

Since the media frequently reports on credit card debt, students aren t as aware of this issue, says Kantrowitz.

The consequences of taking on debt $25,000, on average, by graduation are worrisome.

Another way to combat this mounting problem is to instill financially savvy habits earlier on.

We need to teach young people about managing money and different problem-solving techniques. For example, how to calculate a future value of an investment, or the monthly payment on a loan. It s a good fi...[more]