Any recent college graduate will most likely tell you that they enjoyed their journey through college. They will go into stories of their favorite classes, a crazy professor, or a social event with their friends that they may or may not remember. What these grads may not want to discuss is the student-loan debt they currently hold. Attacking and paying back this debt has become the next big battle after graduation. Before they can even step back and celebrate the achievement of graduating, graduates are struggling to find a job as the letters from the loan company pile up.

DATA: Seven out of ten seniors (69%) who graduated from public and nonprofit colleges in 2013 had student loan debt, with an average of $27,514 per borrower. This represents a two percent increase from the average debt of 2012 public and nonprofit graduates.

Review of the data shows several astonishing facts. Seven out of ten college graduates have loan debt. That is 69% of young men and women who graduated from public and nonprofit colleges. Your next question is probably, well how much debt do these graduates have? The average debt per student is $28,400. There has been a two percent increase from 2012 to 2013. (Talk about an increase of 2% each year. What will it be in 10, 20?)

How do we expect our youth to succeed when they start out at such a large disadvantage? It is already tough to find a job that pays enough to be independently successful, and that’s why more graduates are forced to live at home. If the cost for education keeps rising and the job marketing keeps shrinking, it will lead to a dangerous chain of events. Graduates will have even greater debt and also be forced to wait longer to find the right career. This is a major issue which has NOT been addressed properly.