COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Graduating college students are beginning to come face to face with an estimated $1 trillion worth of student loan debt.
That debt has finally surpassed the amount of credit card debt in this country and more Americans are finding it harder to pay off.
A lot of factors are to blame, such as expensive tuition, unemployment, and underemployment. Many of us have student loan stories, just like USC PhD student Jennifer Tison.
"I'm looking at -- I'm embarrassed to say -- moving back in with my parents," said Tison. "Moving back to Tennessee and hopefully to pay off some of this debt."
Tison has about 6 months to figure out how she will start paying it back. Is it worth it? Maybe not, according to her.
"I would say no," said Tison. "If I could go back six years and tell myself I had a pretty good job working for the state and I gave it up to come here. Student loan debt has obliterated any good feelings I have about the degree."
College students are graduating with more and more debt every year. And it's not just students, but parents too who co-sign and take on some of the debt themselves. When the debt becomes overwhelming, borrowers are feeling over their heads wanting to hit the panic button, filing for bankruptcy won't help.
"Student loans in bankruptcy don't mix well," said bankruptcy attorney Michael Cox. "Student loans are like a credit card to the bankruptcy system. They are blind."
Fifty percent of Cox's clients come to him with significant student loans, but he tells them they're better off not filing for bankruptcy for that debt.
"When I first started, student loans were dischargeable after 5 years; you give it your best shot; then it was 7 years, now it's forever," said Cox.
Cox blames the new 2005 bankruptcy code -- a law that makes it more difficult to file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. It's a law, he says, is in dire need of reform.
"It'll fix lots of other problems," said Cox. "If you've got mortgage problems, foreclosure going on, you got car, you got a bunch of credit cards -- it works great for all those things but what it doesn't do well is student loans."
In the meantime, Tison will keep working on her PhD and looking for a job in academia so she can afford $805 a month for the next 10 years.
"All in the name of education," she says.
Copyright 2012 WIS. All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2012 WorldNow and WISTV, a Raycom Media Station. 