State, federal assistance urged to reduce student-loan debt

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Today, students will walk into class, sit down to learn and may not think of what’s to come after they walk to a platform or stage to accept their diplomas: student loan debt.

Not all students will have the debt, but Edvisors.com, an informational source for students and parents looking to plan and pay for college, says 71 percent of students graduate with debt.

The fix: more investment from the federal and state level, says Mark Kantrowitz, of Edvisors.

“There is no magic bullet that is going to solve this other than the federal and state governments investing more,” he said. “This is an investment in the future of the country.”

In the nation there is $1.3 trillion in total federal and private education debt owed. The average student loan debt is $35,000 at graduation for bachelor’s degree recipients this year. That’s up from the average of $19,669 ten years back.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.