Education Leaves Half of Americans in Serious Debt

Around half of all Americans are in debt - and I'm not talking about mortgages or car loans. I mean seriously in debt.And the number one reason is now college.Student loan debt is now higher for most people than credit card debt and according to the New York Times - the total amount adults owe could soon top a trillion dollars.In 2010 the average college grad was saddled with about $24,000 in debt. Again - that's just the average. For many it's much, much higher than that!In fact in 2008, more than 60% of students graduated with debt - compared to less than half 15 years earlier. And as the publisher of fin-aid.org put it, "In the coming years, a lot of people will still be paying off their student loans when it's time for their kids to go to college."

For those who attended a for-profit college, the news is even direr. That's only 12% of those enrolled in higher education. But of the people who default on student loans, 50% comes from that group.And the worst part about student loans - you can't get out of paying them by filing for bankruptcy. The government can garnish wages or tax refunds or other forms of income - to make sure the money owed is recovered.And it's not just the lower-income group being forced to pay for college decades after they graduate. Even famous faces have had to struggle to pay off their debt.Actually, Michelle Obama has admitted it took her husband's best-selling books to help them break-even on their education.

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