18 Sobering Facts About The Unprecedented Student Loan Debt Crisis In The United StatesMichael Snyder What makes all of this even worse is that only some of our college graduates are able to get the good jobs that we promised them. So with limited job prospects and suffocating levels of debt, this generation of young Americans is increasingly putting off major life commitments such as buying a home and getting married. As a society, we really need to rethink how we are educating our young people, because what we are doing now is clearly not working. The following are 18 sobering facts about the unprecedented student loan debt crisis in the United States #2 In 1994, less than half of all college graduates left school with student loan debt. Today, it is over 70 percent. #3 Approximately 15 percent of graduate and professional school students leave school with student loan debt balances in the six figures. #4 At this point, student loan debt has hit a grand total of 1.2 trillion dollars in the United States. That number has grown by about 84 percent just since 2008. #5 According to the Pew Research Center, nearly four out of every ten U.S. households that are led by someone under the age of 40 is paying off student loan debt right now. #6 The median net worth of young households that have student loan debt is 20 percent lower than the median net worth of young households that do not have any student loan debt and that are led by someone with only a high school education. #7 Among college educated people, the median net worth of young households that do not have student loan debt is seven times higher than the median net worth of young households that do have student loan debt. #8 In 2008, approximately 29 million Americans were paying off student loan debts. Today, that number has ballooned to 40 million. #9 Since 2005, student loan debt burdens have absolutely exploded while salaries for young college graduates have actually declined #10 According to CNN, 260,000 Americans with a college or professional degree made at or below the federal minimum wage last year. #11 Even after accounting for inflation, the cost of college tuition increased by 275 percent between 1970 and 2013. #12 Debt for law school students has risen dramatically over the past decade or so J.D.s certainly dont come cheap. Its almost unheard of to attend law school without taking out significant loans. Whats more, the average debt load is mounting: in 2001-2002, JDs borrowed on average $46,500 at public law schools and $70,000 at private law schools; by 2011, those numbers rose to $75,700 and $125,000, respectively. #13 Last year it was being reported that 34.9 percent of all student loan borrowers under the age of 30 are at least 90 days behind on their student loan payments. #14 One survey found that 27 percent of those with student loan debt moved back in with their parents after college. #15 Another survey found that 70 percent of all college graduates wish that they had spent more time preparing for the real world while they were still in school. #16 Student loan debt is causing many young Americans to delay getting married. The following is from a recent NBC News article #17 Many Americans are not even using most of their student loan money to pay for college. Instead, many are using much of that money to pay bills or stock the fridge #18 Only 28 percent of Americans know that the U.S. government can garnish wages and withhold tax refunds if student loan debts are not repaid. It should come as no surprise that the delinquency rate on student loan debt in this country is far higher than the delinquency rate on mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt. This is a financial bubble that gets worse with each passing year, and if we continue on our current course it is going to end very, very badly. So what do you think the solution is? Please feel free to share your thoughts by posting a comment below This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here. 