Student debt has reached an all-time high in the United States. More students than ever are using loans to pay for college, and the amounts they borrow have risen dramatically: 60 percent over a period of just seven years.

A new national survey of college and university presidents finds that 86% are concerned about the amount of debt students are taking on to pay for their education, and that they support a range of policy changes to reduce the burdens of student debt.

When student loans are the only way to pay for college, who decides how much debt a degree is worth? Through interviews and a review of available research, this paper explores how debt aversion and conflicting views about the role of student loans affect young people, their families, and those who advise them.

This is a pdf of a powerpoint presentation given at the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute on college access marketing, with specific examples of marketing campaigns from across the country.