As of March 2013, 38.6 million Americans have acombined $869.9 billion of student loan debt, which represents anincrease of 16% from the same time just one year ago at $748.6billion. Further, there are currently more than 125 million studentloans outstanding, indicating the average student takes out morethan three loans to cover the full cost of their education.

A combination of economic factors is driving the current studentlending trends of historically high balances and record levels ofdelinquencies: the wave of unemployed or underemployed that areenrolling or returning to universities to gain additional trainingand more marketable degrees; high tuition costs require manystudents to secure multiple loans to cover college expenses; andgraduating students with outstanding loans are entering a weaklabor market, limiting their ability to repay – leading to highernumbers of loan defaults.

Credit unions that have a relationship with a member from anearly age through a checking or savings account have the benefit ofinsight into how that member manages his or her money. Extendingthat relationship, credit unions can take additional steps toensure healthy loan performance by counseling members with studentloan debt on how to best manage their credit, providing financialmanagement training and establishing the institution as aknowledgeable resource. All of these steps create opportunities toprovide further financial support for the next phase of themember's life.