What is the source of this data? Does the top graph include parent plus loans and/or non-government backed debt? It would be good to see this data by type of degree.
College graduation by income level is a better metric to look at than college enrollment, does the source have that data?
I wish I know the source, but it is from another site very popular for premeds and medical students. 
Edit: I had asked for source and will provide an update if I get a response.
The under-24 group is less likely to have piled up professional school (medical/law/dental/etc.) student loan debt than the 25-34 group. It looks like the 35-49 group is not exactly making much progress paying it down.
Welder made $130,000 in his first year out of trade school. Yes, he worked plenty of overtime, but his skills afforded him that opportunity. There are plenty of skilled trades people making 6 figures. Plenty of biology majors with bachelor’s degrees are stuck making $15 - $20 an hour. Obviously there’s examples of high earners in many professions as well as those that could do much better. Those contemplating a career should certainly do their research and inform themselves about aspects regarding those particular choices.
Stories about individual welders who are making triple the national average salary for welders are nice, but I’m not sure how this is really helpful in a conversation about the existing problem of student loan debt. I believe I’ve read that the average lifespan for welders (especially underwater welders) can be lower than for those in other professions because of safety issues related to the work.
Maybe this discussion could help some families right now in determining whether trade school or a traditional four year college is the right choice for their child. It seems kind of off-topic though.
The topic of skilled workers and welders salaries were brought up earlier. There was a comparison to some college degrees in regards to salary and entry cost. In my mind it goes to show interested parties looking into options that there are many choices of jobs available that don’t necessarily require a degree but do pay very well. There are many trades that pay very well in many areas that are perhaps a good choice for many students/ families. It’s just one way a student or family could potentially avoid a large student loan debt.
A number of posters above have talked about rather than loan forgiveness, perhaps a break on the interest rates is a better approach. I agree with this approach. I think it has a number of advantages over loan forgiveness:
Let’s move on from the discussion of how much welders earn, shall we?
I agree. I would even go so far as to say that the government should charge zero interest for direct student loans and interest only to the level to cover the costs of the loan for parent plus loans. I really don’t think since we the tax payers would be supporting this program that the government should be attempting to “profit” like a private lending institution. That said, I am not for loan forgiveness. I would say instead that all current government students loans would have the interest forgiven and payment plans put in place to cover the costs of the principle. Fines for non payment would only accrue from the time the new policy is put into place.
I’m not sure exactly where I stand on this issue, but we already have forms of student loan forgiveness. What is being proposed is the expansion of loan forgiveness in some shape or form. However, if these programs are not expanded, it seems that either charging zero interest/lowered interest and/or expanding income tax deductions would be reasonable alternative options to consider.
If the interest rate is set to 0% and there are no penalties for late payments, why would anyone repay the loans?
I do not think the interest rate should be zero given inflation…tie it to inflation at a minimum…
Perhaps the real interest rate will be negative soon?
Because most people are honest?
I am almost 48 and owe close to $40,000 in student loans, for a 4 year management degree. It was less but the interest has made the balance go up quite a bit. I am on an income based repayment plan, the payment is currently set at $0. My earnings have never topped $30,000/year and when I was married we never passed $50,000/year combined. Granted there have been some choices which didn’t help matters, like getting married while in college, going to a private school, choosing a major that probably wasn’t the best, and not wanting to move to someplace larger.
However, it’s not always easy to know where choices will lead. My family had no experience with college and our guidance counselor at my small, rural school was not helpful. I graduated during the period where there was a big push for everyone to go to college, and being Valedictorian it was expected that I would do great things. We were led to believe that a college degree guaranteed a good job. I had no idea that your major, your personality, and many other factors made a big difference. I am happy to have a degree and value my education, but it has not benefitted me financially.
@PPofEngrDr could you please PM me the name of that site? DD20 is thinking healthcare and we need all the info we can get.
@Cheeringsection just to warn you, that site you won’t find love for BS/MD at all. So keep that in mind and prepare for brutal but honest response. Search something like student doctor and you will find it.
Found it here it is
https://www.credit.com/personal-finance/average-student-loan-debt/
It looks like those charts for student loan debt is only for those students with any loan at all. Are they including all the students/recent grads who have NO loans at all? I don’t think so, which is about 1/2 of all students/grads.
Thank you @PPofEngrDr. Not to worry. She is already at her UG college and will not be pursuing a BS/MD. Just learning about the next step at this point.