Help For The Economy? Not From Debt-Bound Grads

04-29-2012 • http://www.npr.org, by NPR Staff

In a little more than 10 years, the total amount of student loan debt in this country has doubled to more than $1 trillion. In the not too-distant-future, student loan debt will eclipse the amount of money Americans owe on their cars and credit cards.

On both television and at the University of North Carolina this week, President Obama made the case for keeping rates on student loans low. "The interest rates will double unless Congress acts by July 1," the president said.

On Friday, Congress did act, with a Republican bill that will keep interest rates on federal student loans at 3.4 percent. To finance it, Republicans would strip $6 billion from a program within the health care law — so President Obama says he'll veto it.

Even if the interest rates are kept low, the bigger program remains: What to do about the soaring costs of college and the related debt obligations that 40 million Americans now carry?

Americans like Josh Tisonyai, a 25-year-old recent graduate from Ohio State University. He owes $26,000 in student debt, which is around the average for college grads.