[cq]

Note that the first graph is "Six Years After College Entry". So that's 1-2 years after graduation. BARELY any time (if any) for interest to accumulate (as it doesn't while you're still a student).

I'd like to see a graph of 5 or 10 years after college graduation.

Edit: I was misinformed about college loans, please read the comments below this post. It is worse than I thought.

[younata]

Depends on the type of loan. I have friends with non-government loans, and for them, interest starts accumulating the instant they take the loan.

[matwood]

Interest shouldn't accumulate as long as payments are being made.

If people are leaving school and jobless, then any debt is going to be rough on them.

[tcash21]

This is not true. Interest does not start accruing on subsidized loans until repayment begins. Interest accrues WHILE you are still in school for unsubsidized loans. In both cases, interest is accruing as you are making regular payments.

[matwood]

That's correct. The original poster said lets look years out to see if someone had 100k in debt, but if they are repaying the loan the balance should not be getting bigger even with interest accruing (it's not accumulating since a payment should cover current interest plus some principle). I wasn't very clear with my wording.