In Debt By Hank Silverberg Do you or someone in your family have student loan debt? Americans owe more than $1.49 TRILLION in student loans. That’s much more than credit card debt ($850 million). Credit.com says the average student (or former student) owes $31,172 with an average payment of $393 a month, if they are paying it. There are 44.7 million such loans out there and it can take between 10 and 30 years to pay off that debt. https://www.credit.com/personal-finance/average-student-loan-debt/ Many students were told taking a loan for college would help them get a better credit score once they started paying it back. Trouble is, many can't start paying it back on their first or second job because their salaries are not high enough. All of this is a drain on our economy. Much of that debt is held by people in their 30’s and 40’s, and it often hinders their effort to get other credit later on for things like car loans and mortgages. This is not just about you