Record Debt for the Class of 2011

American college students set to graduate this spring will do so with a special distinction. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, with an average student debt of $22,900, the class of 2011 is the most indebted ever. —ARK

The Wall Street Journal:

Even as the average U.S. household pares down its debts, the new degree-holders who represent the country’s best hope for future prosperity are headed in the opposite direction. With tuition rising at an annual rate of about 5% and cash-strapped parents less able to help, the mean student-debt burden at graduation will reach nearly $18,000 this year, estimates Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of student-aid websites Fastweb.com and FinAid.org. Together with loans parents take on to finance their children’s college educations—loans that the students often pay themselves—the estimate comes to about $22,900. That’s 8% more than last year and, in inflation-adjusted terms, 47% more than a decade ago.

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A student at the University of Portsmouth in England displays the amount she owes for college expenses at an event called the Wall of Debt in 2008.