Student

Student loan debt runs to about $30,000 per graduate of the class of 2013, as Phil Izzo writes in the Wall Street Journal.  And the total amount of student loans outstanding runs to almost a trillion dollars: more than either credit card balances or automobile loans.  More than any form of consumer debt other than home mortgages.

The struggle to pay off this debt has led many recent graduates to put off getting married, buying homes, and starting families.

Furthermore, the trends are not encouraging as “Even adjusting for inflation, the average debt burden was half that size 20 years ago.”

And graduates in:

... the class of 2013 ... aren’t likely to hold the title of “Most Indebted Ever” for long. Amid continued growth in both tuition costs and student lending, they are likely to pass the mantle to the class of 2014 next May just as they assumed it from the class of 2012.

Tough on the kids, for sure.  But presidents at some of the universities where they rang up that debt are doing just fine.