While most Americans are finding a way to whittle down their debt, students and recent graduates are struggling with student loans. About 22.4 million homes reported college-related debt in 2010, according to the Pew Research Center—about twice the number carrying the sort of debt in 1989. More worrisome is the fact that some students, locked out of a weak job market, are unable to repay those loans. Of the 4.1 million students who started making student loan payments in 2009 and 2010, 9.1 percent defaulted—up from the 8.8 percent defaulting the year before. (USA Today)
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