This is the total federal student loan debt for current and past students and parents who are paying off their loans, without interest. It does not include Perkins loans or private (or “alternative") loans taken out by students and parents.* On July 1, the cost of student loans rose even higher: earlier this year, Congress decided that students and parents should pay even higher interest rates for the loans they need to afford higher education. By graduation, two-thirds of students at four-year colleges and universities have student loan debt, compared to less than one-half in 1993. Over the past decade, debt levels for graduating seniors with student loans more than doubled.

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No longer in school but you still have loan debt? Enter yourself into the student debt yearbook!

*Sources:
Outstanding direct student loans FY 2005-07, page 3
Outstanding guaranteed student loans FY 2005-07, page 3