has the highest student loan debt in the country. while the research is finding that the average student debt is $46,000. even though the median income is $27,000 a year. that is a 174% debt to income ratio. and clearly, it's not just south jersey. another recent study finds that student loan debt across the country is expecting people in unexpected ways. 82% of people with student loans said it caused difficulties in their lives. according to 56% of them polled. it has held them back from buying a car and student loan debt is stopping them from buying a house and are delaying engagement and marriage due to the debt. two high school seniors rough to college in the fall are already feeling the pressure. they produced a video as part of a school project that highlights the concerns and challenges they and their peers face. >> my 2020, 65% of jobs require some sort of post secondary education and 2015, the average cost of a year at a private college is over $42,000. and more than 69% of students that graduate in 2014, did so with student loan debt. 4,000 students revealed that 50% are struggling with food and housing. >> we have students and seniors in the high school, and we will going to college in the fall and taking out student loans to pay for the education. thank you for being with us. what was the assignment and why choose student loan debt? >> well, so, for the time, we had to choose a topic to discuss in a pac in 30 seconds to a minute, when they mentioned that student loan debt would be one of the topics that we discussed, we looked at each other and said, yeah, that's what we want to do. it's the most relevant to us personally, so, yeah, we figured that we would do that. with a few other friends. we had five people? >> yeah, five people. >> no brainer to do it because as seniors, this is something that you and i'm sure a lot of your friends are talking about. >> definitely. >> what are you hearing? >> they are worried about going to school for what they want to do, because they cannot afford the school that is best for that. >> you both anticipate borrowing $15,000 a year. correct? so we are looking at $60,000 by the time you graduate, do you feel you can handle it? does it feel overwhelming and you are not in college yet? >> it feels overwhelming. because when you get a financial package, it's just on paper. you don't get to know, if you are a student that doesn't have responsibility for finances yet, it's a lot of money, you may not have the $70,000, $80,000 job that you are expecting. it may not happen that way. so students are not prepared for that. >> well, kind of what david is saying, people aren't really prepared in high school for that type of debt. mentally i would like to consider it an investment of sorts. you may not be paying off the debt immediately or in the next year after graduating. in the end. you are going to be making more money than without a college degree. >> i'm hearing a bit of optimism and positivity in your voices, it's overwhelming and it's a topic that you chose because it's so relevant. you don't seem to be as concerned that this is a doomsday scenario. >> no, there's other options, and you can have other programs that cover the loans. if you have a good job. and you have family members, it could get easier for you. so i have a bit of optimism. >> i heard both of you say, that most high school seniors are not prepared to see these kind of of numbers on paper. do you feel that preparation should be done at the high school level from your administrators and from the colleges you are applying to? >> i think absolutely. because most of the time we don't go over what it means to have a job and then at the end of the month when you have a $2,000 paycheck and 500 of that is going to your student loan debt and then you have $1500 and taxes that go in to that. you are not really taught that from the most part from our school. so, having more education based on that, i think would help out a lot of students. >> in your process of figuring out how to pay for college, did you find there was enough, there should be more? what's the deal here? >> well, i mean, i think it's pretty sufficient, in the end, that is because i did my own look engine ing in to -- >> you did your home work. >> yeah, for somebody that doesn't have the opportunity or has not gone in depth with their, you know, investigations of things like that. it's not as easy. >> you are busy enough figuring out where to apply to college and where you can get in and of course, this is the other piece to that. on that note, did it change in terms of student loan debt, did it change where you apply to school and where you decided to go in the end, david? >> for me, it affected where i was going in the end. i got in to a few schools that he wanted to get in to and the school that i ended up committing to was not one that i was going to commit to or think of applying to, it was more of a back-up option. and when i got one of the first offer, i had a financial aid award with it, and it was a nice one and i started to look at the school, and researched more and i learned so much about the school that i fell in love with it and i committed to that school. >> so in your case, it was sort of a reverse here in that you were not necessarily commitmented when you applied. it was a back-up, as you said, and when you saw what they were offering to give you in terms of your financial aid package, grant money, you thought, maybe it's a good option. so, in your experience? >> well, similar, actually. the first college that i was planning on attending, i realized that their financial aid was not as, you know, graceful. >> they were not going to give you as much money as you hoped. >> yes. pretty much, but it ended up being that the college i chose in the end was a college that could give me a substantial amount of money for what i was planning to do. >> does it affect and do you think for both of you and do you think it's the same with your peers and other students, does it affect what you may want to major in in college, what career path you want to pursue? if you have a lot of friends that say, they will go in to finance because they figure they will make a big paycheck when they graduate? >> it plays a huge role, you have to know what you are going to do after school. you will have a lot of student loan debt. so it take as toll on what they want to do. it puts pressure, and you think more positively about what they are going to do because of the income they will receive after school. >> pretty much the same as what david was saying. it's a bit tough for some kids, colleges do offer better programs for certain majors and other colleges. so, if you say, can't afford to go to a certain college, and it was the first choice and you end up going to another college for the fact that you can't pay it off, you know, you may have to change your major, you don't have to, but it may be a better option to change your major to something you are less interested in but you are better off having a degree in. >> the school that gave you the more money may have the better program in engineering if you can get in their engineering program, than if you are interested in it. so, as we said in the beginning of our discussion, $60,000 is what you are looking to take on and what you will graduate with when you finish college. how do you pay it back? have you started to think about the process? >> of course, for different people, it's different options. if you have the ability to do something while you are in school, you should look in to that. personally, you know, i'm doing my own thing i have been doing for a couple of years and hopefully that will get me in to, at the end of my college career, i can come out and hopefully have enough money to pay the monthly fees. >> in your case? >> i'm hoping the find whatever jobs i can in the meantime, build up experience as well, you know, working off the student debt. i think it will come eventually. i will work while i'm in college as well. who hopefully that helps with the loan debt. >> was that part your package? work study jobs? >> small portion. >> okay. thank you so much for being with us. and good luck in the fall. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> coming up next, we will ask the experts if had they believe student loan debt is the next housing bubble and how to dig out if it is too much? dear fellow citizen, spending time hunting treasures with my daughter is wonderful. because before i'm even ready, she'll be off to college. and though i've planned for it, i may need a loan to help her pay her way there. just like i do for my son. citizens bank student loans call 1-866-999-0154 as a leader in student lending, we have student loan options that others don't. including better alternatives to federal loans. i can show you how to pay for your own child's way to college. in case you don't find that treasure chest. if you have a question about student loans, ask me. sincerely, michele wright fellow mom and fellow citizen. citizens bank student loans call 1-866-999-0154 to apply now. has student loan debt reached a crisis level? that's what some financial experts and college presidents suggest. but, maybe we should calm down,as others point out there's no evidence that it's harming the economy. a lot of worry and concerns can be solved by understanding the system of student loan borrowing. we have our guests here. thank you both for being with us. >> thank you. >> patty, i you will start with you, is this a crisis? has it reached crisis level and is it harming our economy? >> it's not a crisis, there's a concern, right, because it's over a trillion dollars and for an individual house that could be considered a crisis. however, it is with the federal government these dollars, so it's more around how do we keep it from getting out of control, it's not going to necessarily impact our economy at the present time. >> i want to talk about loan responsibility, about the difference for when parents, students are on the hook, either students themselves, sor parent or both? >> it depends, there's different kinds of loans that you take. who is responsible depends on who took on the obligation. the classic student loans that come through with the financial aid package, those are the responsibility of the student, sometimes families need more help to close the gap to afford tuition and that is when parent-s will go out and take out loans and they can do it either through a government backed fund called the parent plus loan program or also private loans available through private lenders. and parents are doing that, they will be responsible for the payments. >> and of course, there's the issue of paying it back and paying it back on time. >> don't ignore your loans. if you have gone to school and funded them through financial aid, you have to have a plan in place. if you hit rough spots you need to be in contact with the servicer and put a plan in place, if it's a forbearance or defer deferment, there's plans out there. >> you can talk to counciling agencies like ours that can direct you or community legal services and get the guidance you need for the plan that will help fit so that you do not go in to default. >> i think it's important as we talk about student loan debt to talk about need-based financial aid. grant money in this process, of figuring out how to pay for college. and also, what schools are going to give it to you? >> it's a pretty complicated process and they are turning to standardized. it's not there yet, it's trying look at what you are getting, what the different terminology means, and making sure that you are getting aid that is not something that has to be paid back. right? a lot of times it is confusing and people think that the student loan they are getting is aid and it's not -- i think, again, evaluate all of the different schools that you are looking at, and there's great systems out there, the consumer financial protection hero has a great way that you can look at three different schools. and get a comparison. so you have a true understanding of what you are paying. >> i think the other thing that is not said here is that a lot of those need-based assistants and grant programs and scholarships are often based on the endowments and funding opportunities a particular school has and a student may not understand all that at the point of application. if you are interested in attending a school, apply, you will see your financial aid package before you have to make a decision about attending and then you will have a better ability to compare the offers on the table. >> so, i think what we are saying here is you may be scared off by a school that has a big price tag in terms of the tuition. but if the school has a big endowment, you could get more financial aid, and more money you don't have to pay back than somewhere with a smaller endowment. >> precisely. >> i want to talk about the interest rate, critical, we were discussing before the segment that for graduate school loans those rates are huge, as someone who is a recently graduated law school graduate, i see it myself. what should parents look for? >> there's opportunities to refinance student loans now, banks and a lot of new entries in the market to consolidate and pay it down at a lower interest rate. you have to be careful, because you lose all of the federal protection you get. so all the payment programs, that we mentioned like forbearance and deferment, and income driven repayment plans, you could lose them in a private student loan. >> so you are giving one up for the other. >> when you talk about your repayment in terms of your salary. often times we see, if you happen to be, let's say you were make thg amount one year and lose your job or go to another job and you are making less, often times your student loan, what you have to pay each month will be adjusted, that could change if you get a private market. >> so there's income driven payment plans, but not enough students are looking in to them. 70% of the students that defaulted for student loans could have qualified for income driven repayment plans. it's something you should look at if you are struggling to make the monthly payment. >> it sounds like education is key here. >> definitely and as patty said, if you are in trouble, get the information early. seek out counciling agencies, or attorney assistance, or call your student financial office or loan servicer. these programs are standardized in the system, and that information is out there, people just need to ask about it. >> i want to talk about the need for paying it back and the goal of paying it back sooner rather than later. obviously some financial planners believe that it's not worth delaying it, you want to get it done now. we have some sound with a financial planner that we spoke to earlier that talks about the ways that students need to kind of look in to once they graduate to boost their salary and boost their income. let's take a quick listen. >> college students that are just graduating need to be intentional about maximizing their income, at the end of the day, there's a limit to cutting back your budget and not going out to eat or not going out to the movies. if you increase your income, there's no limit to the amount of money you could make and that's going to help you accelerate the student loan payback. >> easier said than done, boosting your income. a valid and important point, i wonder if it's a new argument when you get an offer from your boss and you are going back with a counter in terms of what you want your salary to be, saying, i have x amount of student loans, i need help. >> definitely, employers are now taking a hard look at it because there's so many graduates with student loan debt and developing programs around helping them pay it back. ask about the programs. do you offer it? >> are you finding that in your outreach with students and graduates that they are having more open discussions with their employers about their student loan debt and burden? >> i think a lot of the complaint population that i serve does not have that same negotiating power in a job market environment. but the nice thing, is there are forgiveness programs for people that work in nonprofit. and so, i think if employers in those segments understand there's ways that people can structure their debt and manage on a lower salary and still have that debt discharged after ten years of employment. >> that's right, i had a friend that works in new york in the mayor's office and she went to law school, and that is a big reason why she is working in government because she knows that after ten years if she has not paid off her law school debt entirely it will be forgiven. and i think that anyone interested in public service or nonprofit, they should not be fearful of lower salaries and their student loan problems because of the programs available. >> your best piece of advice and tips for parents and students watch somethi watching? >> really take a hard look at the cost and make sure you can afford it over four years, that your student can and then the age that they are looking at as they graduate, that will set their monthly budget as to what the payment will be and it will open up the student's eyes. >> i think that the students that spoke earlier have a good perspective. it can be scary to see that five and six figure debt, but it is an investment in your life and career, and having a solid plan to deal with it is what is important. >> jennifer and patricia, thank you for being with us, we really appreciate it. >> ever see one of these in your yard, not that surprising anymore. we will tell you what happened when a black bear wondered in to a delaware backyard, coming up. a family in delaware found something unusual on their lawn this past week, they spotted a bear and they are not the only ones. we are following the trail. >> i was walking up the street here, christopher was on his way to catch the bus when he saw it in the neighborhood. >> and a big brown nose and face and all black, this big. this tall. >> he snapped a cell phone picture, instinct did not kick in when he saw the bear run off. it was a get inside and takeoff reaction. >> she didn't believe me for like five minutes and then we called 9-1-1. >> they said there were other sightings in the area. >> a delaware wildlife official came out, yep, definitely a bear in the area, probably looked like this one in our viewing area a while back. the delaware bear was spotted here and in the ramsey ridge neighborhood, they say if it's stay engine the area, they will trap it and set it free in western maryland, christopher has his own plan. >> came at me, i will run. >> they say that is noity what you should do. avoid eye contact and back away slowly. hopefully the bear is safely removed before any of us have to come up with a bear fighting strategy. >> take a look. this is a picture of the bear spotted just a few days ago. and back on may 13th, this bear was spotted, taking a dip in the creek in philadelphia. right by valley green. if you do encounter a bear, the experts say, make as much noise as possible, by yelling loudly if you are with other people, stand together to present a morin intimidating figure, but don't surround it. male bears are known the roam this tame ime of year, and more sightings are occurring because of bigger numbers of the black bear in pennsylvania. that is it for this edition of nbc 10 at issue, you can join me every saturday starting at 5:00, and every sunday morning at 5:30. have a good one, and a great week. spent more than 30 years in the public schools. we're retired, but we like to stay involved. you think he's going to learn to fly? we're just as busy now as in our teaching days. the same goes for a lot of the retired educators we know. let me see you all flap your wings, like you're penguins learning to fly. teaching is all about building relationships. and that never goes away. because once a teacher, always a teacher. we're ed and miriam, and we're proud to be new jersey educators. dear fellow citizen, hunting treasures with my daughter is wonderful. because before i'm ready, she'll be off to college. i want to help her pay her way there, like i do for my son. call 1-866-999-0156 as a leader in student lending, we have student loan options that others don't. if you have a question about student loans, ask me. sincerely, michele wright fellow mom and fellow citizen. call 1-866-999-0156 to apply now. >> announcer: the following is a paid presentation for lifelock, the best identity-theft protection available. identity theft is the fastest growing crime in america. >> i started getting phone calls from credit collection companies. "you've opened an account here and here and here." they wanted payment. and it was payment for things that i did not do. >> i was hit with 12 different cases of identity theft within three days. how did somebody get ahold of my identity and become me? >> you see those movies about identity theft and, you know, someone living an alternate life and taking over, and i was scared. she had my home address, she had my telephone number, she had my social security number, and she was able to make a purchase for $8,000. >> someone got ahold of my driver's license number and obtained tickets

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