Teen Vogue
Of the students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the 2021–2022 school year, 49% graduated from public, four-year schools with an average federal debt burden of $20,700 and 52% graduated from private, nonprofit, four-year schools with an average burden of $22,200. The companies servicing those loans, which have seen dozens of lawsuits accusing them of coercing, harassing, and misleading borrowers, stacked the deck against student debtors even more. Exorbitant interest rates leave others making payments on a debt that just keeps expanding.