In a new Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York released new figures for student loan debt.
These numbers affect students across the nation, including those at Utah State
University.
The debt from student loans has risen $663 billion dollars
since 2003, surpassing the debt of credit cards.
“I started saving money for college when I was 14,” said
Katie Chapman, senior at Utah State. “It is so easy to become enslaved to debt
and crumble under all of the pressure to pay it off.”
Chris Lenz sees
financial aid and student loans as something that propels him
to a better future, though
he understands the risks of the loan process.
“I have received financial aid 3 times and now have a
student loan,” Lenz said. “I’m scared for after school, but I’m also scared
now. I have three years left and can’t take any semesters off or else my
payments start.”
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that most of
the student debt that exists in the nation is by those under 30.
“I have payments due all of the time,” Lenz said. “Interest
rates are so high that I can’t afford to miss them.”
Many like Chapman are working hard so that they will never
have to face creditors. In the case of Chapman, she has been planning for this
most of her life.
“If you never go under, you can’t be ruined by debt,”
Chapman said. “That’s why I worked so hard to stay out of it.”
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