NPR – Yuki Noguchi
“When Samuel Smith graduated with a master’s in engineering from Cornell, he thought the $190,000 in debt he incurred would pay off. But it took him awhile to land job at a software firm in Austin, Texas. And now, after paying $1,750 a month in loan payments, rent and food, he says he doesn’t have much left over. He doesn’t own a TV and says “it’d be nice to go out for drinks once in a while.” More people have more student loan debt than at any time in history. Average student loan debt has tripled since the mid-1990s. Last year, the average student debt for a college graduate was more than $35,000, according to Mark Kantrowitz, a student loan expert at Cappex, which connects students with colleges and scholarships. Loans that hefty can take decades to pay off, affecting careers, homebuying and family plans.”(more)