College interest rate set to rise; worries students, parents - Wade Malcom, News Journal

Ryan Mitchell's job at Charter School of Wilmington is to help students determine where they want to go to college and what career they hope to pursue. More than ever, those conversations also involve another factor: How much college will cost? "I even say, 'I don't want to crush your dreams,' " said Mitchell, a college counselor at the high school. "But I want them to know what to expect." The nation's college student loan debt has swollen to $1 trillion based on some estimates -- more than credit card or car loans. And that total could increase even faster with one student loan interest rate set to double this summer. The rate for government-subsidized Stafford loans will jump July 1, but the issue already took center stage in the presidential race this week.