Debt · $1.8T+ $1.8 Trillion — The Student Debt Trap

Americans owe roughly $1.8 trillion in student debt across more than 42 million borrowers — second only to mortgages, and larger than auto-loan or credit-card debt combined. The balance grew about 282% over the two decades ending 2025, because tuition has risen far faster than wages. The class of 2024 left four-year colleges owing an average of ~$29,560. The consequences ripple outward: 51% of renting borrowers say debt is a reason they haven't bought a home, those owing over $30,000 are 11% less likely to start a business, and as of early 2026 delinquency on federal loans had jumped past 10% as pandemic-era pauses ended. Graduates are sold college as the path to security, then enter a thinned-out job market already owing the price of a house deposit. The debt is the trap dressed as the ladder.