Paying for college is a significant burden on Americans today. College student loan debt now surpasses $1 trillion. That’s more than Americans owe on their credit cards and car loans, and that amount is projected to grow $100 billion annually. The average college senior’s debt burden now exceeds $25,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate among recent college graduates reached a record high of 9.1 percent in 2010, making it difficult to repay loans. Student loan default rates are rising, from 7 percent in 2009 to nearly 9 percent 2010. This translates into more than 320,000 defaults out of nearly 4 million student borrowers. College loan debt hurts both individual students and the national economy.