I Will Graduate with $100,000 in Loans
By Jennifer Liberto | CNNMoney.com
When Kelly Mears graduates from Union College in the summer of 2015, she will have $100,000 in student loans.
Armed with a political science degree, Mears will join more than a million Americans who have racked up breathtaking amounts of student debt.
"It just seems to be a part of the growing American experience to go to school, graduate and work off that debt for the rest of your life," Mears said.
Related: How did this happen?
Super-borrowers with $100,000 of student loan debt aren't the norm. The average student graduates with $27,000 of loan debt.
The New York Fed said those who borrow $100,000 or more are about 3.1% of borrowers nationwide. But it's easy to see how students get there, with four years of private college tuition running $116,000 on average, according to the College Board.
At Union, a small liberal arts school in Schenectady, N.Y., tuition is $58,000 a year, according to its website.
Related: What's at stake
When Mears was ready for college, her parents had just lost their home to foreclosure in Murrieta, Calif. But Mears fell in love with Union College when she started in 2011.
The South California native was attracted by the college's claim that it was affordable, and that it gave out lots of financial help. Mears mistakenly believed that she would qualify for more financial help than she ended up getting.
The school awards more than $60 million in financial aid to students from federal, state and other agencies, as well as from the school's own pockets, said Union College spokeswoman Christen Gowan.
To read the entire article from Jennifer Liberto | CNNMoney.com:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/graduate-100-000-loans-095900983.html
If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. -John Wooden
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