Is There a Better Way to Deal With Student Debt?

The process of taking out student loans can be nerve-racking, but the reality of paying those loans back can be downright sobering—especially when a looming, large number suddenly becomes very real during the repayment period.

Between 2003 and 2013, the share of 25-year-olds with government and/or private-student-loans climbed from 25 percent to 45 percent. In the 2011-2012 academic year, 10 percent of college graduates had more than $50,000 in student loan debt—in 1999-2000 that number was only about 1 percent. Growing debt is largely the result of climbing tuition prices, which lead many students to lean more heavily on borrowing than they once did.