Noone has really mention interest rates on the student loan debt. Expect an interest rate of 8%. Federal Stafford loans are scheduled to drop to 3.4% by 2011, but the rate is 6% for the 2008-09 school year. PLUS loans are at 8.5%. This entire discussion could be moot if Obama limits the payment term for student loan debt to 20 yrs as he stated in the state of the union speech. If there is a max of 20 yrs of repayment, then the sky's the limit.

The best advice for students is to exhaust all non loan financial aid opportunities and sources and look into scholarships, work study, grants and other forms of financial aid that do not require repayment. These are often over looked.

I work at a university and its amazing that cost and student loans is not a more important factor when deciding which university to attend. Students should apply to multiple colleges and examine closely the financial packages of each. In many, if not most instances, students should not be overly swayed by a college’s claim of being the best in a given field of study. I think that students should look at the school’s graduation rates, average length of attendance as well as default rates for graduates. Most universities have this information available on request.

Everyone is talking about the cost and the job market. Noone is talking about education cost reform. I dont understand why the cost of higher education is so high when the colleges and universities are subsidized by the state and federal government.

are you part of the tea party?

no one will reform higher education as long as there is money to be made.

according to recent statistics, although the percentage of people ages 22 to 29 with debt has declined, their total debt is up 10%, to an average $16,120 as of Aug. 1, 2009 compared with five years earlier. In addition, for students, every other type of debt from credit cards to college to personal loans has also risen.

Student-loan balances rose 16% to an average of $14,379; revolving debt, including credit cards, surged 24% to $5,781; and total installment debt, including student and personal loans, rose 4% to $17,208.