Student Debt Grew 2,807% Since Supreme Court Justices Graduated

U.S. student loan debt has more than doubled in the past 12 years and now totals about $1.8 trillion. That's currently affecting more than 40 million Americans. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is considering President Joe Biden's plan to wipe out more than $400 billion in student debt. But how did we get here in the first place? The average student debt at the time of graduation in 1970 was about $1,000 compared to more than $31,000 in 2021.

That's an increase of more than 2,800 percent. Even when adjusted for inflation, the average student loan balance at the time of graduation has risen more than 500 percent since 1970. The biggest reason is rising tuition rates. In 1970, it cost about $1,300 a year to attend a four-year public university, including tuition, room, and board, and about $2,700 to attend a four-year private university. For the most recent academic year, that cost was about $20,000 a year for a four-year public university and almost $53,000 for a year of a private school. In recent decades, many prospective students have viewed a college education as a way to increase their long-term earnings potential, making the debt worth it in the end. But increasingly, many are wondering whether the cost is really worth it.