The typical image of student debt involves two concepts: the debt, and the student. When we think of students, we think of children, but the reality of a large loan is that its repayment might well extend into middle age.

Excerpt from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/27/us-studentdebt-middleage-idUSTRE7BQ0T620111227

Educational borrowing is up for every age group over the past three years, but it has grown far more quickly among those between 35 and 49, according to the analysis of more than 3 million credit reports provided to Reuters by the credit score tracking site CreditKarma (CreditKarma.com). That group saw its school debt burden increase by a staggering 47 percent, according to the analysis.

The average student loan debt for those aged 38 to 41 was the biggest of that group -- about $12,000, up from just under $9,000 in 2009. Young people still carry the biggest student loan burdens; those aged 26 to 29 have an average of $14,000 in student debt. But the increased levels in middle-aged student debt is a new phenomenon.

The student loan landscape is looking grim, with a record-high horizon that must seem pretty far off and not all that comforting for a lot of borrowers.

Last year, the amount of student loans borrowed crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time. This year, the total amount of outstanding debt from student loans will eclipse $1 trillion, the highest figure in history. And, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards.

As the stagnant economy continues to falter and sources of state and federal education funding continues to be cut, colleges and universities seek to make up the difference through tuition hikes. The increases, which far outpace inflation, are driving students to borrow more student loans to pay for college. In essence, higher education revenue is becoming less subsidized by taxpayer grants and more subsidized by taxpayer loans to student borrowers.

via Debt From Student Loans Will Eclipse $1 Trillion Before the End of the Year | Student Loans Blog.

While we might be happy to dismiss the student loan bubble as a matter of personal responsibility (as with the housing bubble), we have seen that when the figures rise this high, we risk a public catastrophe whether we like it or not.