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One of the least discussed aspects of today’s U.S. economy is the staggering amount of student loan debt.

This is not only affecting the millennial generation but now impacting all generations of Americans, but so far neither political party is addressing the systematic cause of the crisis; why is education so expensive.

According to various federal reports and reported by the Detroit Free Press that;

• Unpaid student loan debt increased $38 billion the last quarter of 2014 to a record $1.2 trillion, according to the New York Federal Reserve.

• More than 11% of that debt is 90-days-plus delinquent, doing damage to credit scores needed to secure mortgages.

• Those ages 50-and-over with student loans represent 17% of the total, about a 30% increase in the past decade, according to a Federal Reserve study.

• Despite all the bad press related to loan debt, college in general still pays for itself over several years: Median annual earnings were $23,000 higher for U.S. bachelor’s degree holders compared with high school graduates in 2014, according to a federal report.

• The unemployment rate for U.S. bachelor’s degree holders was nearly half that of those with only a high school diploma, 6% versus 3.5% in 2014, according to a federal report.

Far too often elected officials focus on student loan debt and the financing associated with it, but fail to address the real cause and that is the high cost of education whether it is in post-secondary education or vocational training.

The problem was magnified in 2010, when the federal government federalized the student loan process, but without ever addressing the root cause of the crisis.

If the U.S. economy is going to grow this one aspect has to be addressed, as this hurts middle class Americans the most. We need to be asking why college cost so much, if we don’t get a handle on this crisis it will hurt all segments of American society.