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Buttigieg's High College Debt Draws Attention to Issue

Associated Press

   PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg
   knows firsthand the burden of six-figure student loan debt. He and his
   husband, Chasten, are far from alone, though, and their personal
   college indebtedness is helping to keep the issue on the national
   stage.
   With loans totaling more than $130,000, they are among the 43 million
   people in the United States who owe federal student loan debt.
   The debtors are so numerous and the total debt so high -- more than
   $1.447 trillion, according to federal statistics -- that several of the
   Democratic candidates have made major policy proposals to address the
   crisis. Their ideas include wiping away debt, lowering interest rates,
   expanding programs that tie repayment terms to income, and making
   college free or debt-free.
   Student loan debt is often discussed as an issue that mostly affects
   millennials, but it cuts across age groups. Federal statistics show
   that about 7.8 million people age 50 and older owe a combined $291.9
   billion in student loans. People age 35 to 49, a group that covers
   older millennials such as Buttigieg as well as Generation X, owe $548.4
   billion. That group includes more than 14 million people.

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