Title: Killer loans — college debt triggers depression and suicide | Salon.com
Headings: Killer loans — college debt triggers depression and suicide
Killer loans — college debt triggers depression and suicide
All debts are burdensome. Why is it that student loans, in particular, give people so much emotional distress?
By Victoria Wang
Why student loans are especially toxic
Victoria Wang

Content: According to the latest available data, of 1,173,420 PSLF borrowers who attempted to qualify for forgiveness as of the third quarter in 2018, only 55 were granted relief. Advertisement: The Student Loan Planner survey also suggests that the middle class might be hit the hardest by the mental tolls. One in nine borrowers who owe $80,000 to $150,000 in student loan debt considered suicide — as opposed to one in seventeen borrowers who owe up to $600,000. Lockert explained to WhoWhatWhy that middle class borrowers are likely to be the most depressed because “a higher chunk of their income is going to debt payments.” For those who sign up for an income-based repayment plan, payments are set at a percentage of their discretionary income. The plan protects those below the poverty line, but for the middle class, an income rise translates to a heavier monthly debt burden. A college education — traditionally a way for the poor and the underprivileged to raise themselves to a higher financial and social status — has, instead, become a perverse impediment to their aspirations. Advertisement: More than two-thirds of graduates of the class of 2018 entered the labor market with an average of $29,800 in student loan debt.