The Parent Report: Student Loan Debt On The Rise
BOSTON (CBS) - For the first time, student loan debt is higher than credit card debt and that is a strain on families.
Podcast
Student loan debt topped credit card debt for the first time last year and the total amount of outstanding student loan debt is likely to exceed one trillion-dollars this year as more students borrow money to go to college. Sandy Baum is a higher education policy analyst and Senior Fellow at George Washington University and she says Federal student loans are still the best deal.
Baum says simply, parents and students need to be informed about paying for college.
But Baum says borrowing money for college, overall, is still a good thing to do.
Two-thirds of bachelor's degree recipients graduated with debt in 2008 compared with less than half in 1993. Last year, graduates who took out loans left college with an average of $24,000 in debt.
