WHY IT MATTERS: Student Debt

More Americans are getting buried by student debt — causing delays in home ownership, limiting how much people can save and leaving taxpayers at risk as many loans go unpaid.

President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers issued a report this year saying that the debt is beneficial because college graduates earn more money than people with only high school degrees.

Studies have shown that student debt payments have led to a delay in home ownership, as well as a decline in college savings for the borrowers' children — creating a multigenerational debt cycle.

All community colleges would be tuition-free, in addition to making it easier for existing borrowers to refinance at lower rates, limit repayments to 10 percent of income and forgive any remaining college debt after 20 years.

The plan would cost the federal government an estimated $500 billion over 10 years, which the Clinton campaign says would be paid for by ending tax preferences for wealthier Americans.

An analysis of renters this year by the company Apartment List found that education loans make it more difficult to buy a home, a critical rite of passage.

The high debt loads and need for many workers to return to school also mean that older Americans make up a growing share of education loans.