Here’s an interesting article from a student at the University of California at San Diego, in their paper The Guardian.
“ Fifty thousand dollars.

That’s the bill I’m looking at six months after graduation, when the deferment period for my student loans ends. And frankly, it’s a terrifying prospect. This is debt that has accumulated despite scholarships, despite working multiple jobs, despite having a tight budget. At the same time as degrees become more important in the job market, they also are becoming far less affordable.

In fact, college costs have increased rapidly across the country over in the last decade, with students paying 42 percent more for tuition in 2005 than they paid in 2000, a rate that far outpaces the rate of inflation. But as college costs have increased, financial aid has decreased. In 1975, the average Pell Grant covered nearly 84 percent of the cost of college; today, the average only covers 36 percent. This means that for many students, loans are quickly becoming necessary to pay for college. According to separate analyses by the American Council on Education and the College Board, close to two-thirds of loans students take out are for bachelor’s degrees, averaging a debt of more than $15,000 each. At UCSD, the rate is slightly lower, with 54 percent of UCSD undergraduates taking out federal or private loans.

Unfortunately, even these are becoming more costly, as the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 recently increased the rates for the federal Stafford loan.”

You can read the full article here.