• The amount America owes in student loans exceeds the nation's credit card debt.
• According to FinAid.org, average student debt has increased nearly threefold in the past two decades, from $9,320 after graduating to $27,204.
• In the year 2000, the nation owed $198.32 billion. In 2010, the number rose to $832.99 billion, more than four times what it was only a decade ago.
• Declaring bankruptcy can free you of your mortgage, car loan, and consumer debt, but not your college loans.

Finally, unlike most other debts, many college loans survive your death.

How much college debt is too much?
So let's get this out of the way first — whether you're a parent or a student, college debt is not something to worry about later. Don't take out excessive amounts of loans unless you know your first steps to getting it paid off. What's excessive amounts of debt? The advice I received was making sure that debt didn't amount to more than a year's salary in my chosen field. Don't take out $10,000 a year in loans if you're looking to work for a non-profit after graduating.

Scholarship essays
I knew I didn't want to spend time in a 500-person lecture hall. That was a huge priority for me. But with smaller class sizes comes larger tuition costs. This was the first time I had to start closing doors. I always did well in math and science classes, but I knew that I didn't want 50 years of them in my future. I had fulfilled the math and science requirements for most of the programs that piqued my interest during preliminary research. I dropped my AP statistics class and used the period to enroll in an independent study in essay writing with an English teacher I had had earlier in my high school career.

Every week, I sat alone for four days and wrote essays. At the end of the week, the teacher and I would get together and review them. Yes, it did help to prepare me for the incredible amount of writing I would do in college, but perhaps more importantly, every single week, I chose one to three scholarship application essays and applied. The essays ranged from reviews of classics to thoughts on racial reconciliation, from 400-word essays about how I'd fix the AIDS crisis in Africa (Fix it in 400 words? Really?) to why I use Gillette for all my shaving needs. I knew that every dollar I received was an interest-free dollar I wouldn't have to pay back later.

Yes, $250 might be a small amount off the thousands in loans, but that's one month after graduating I wouldn't have to pay, and if I earned 10 scholarships suddenly I've got my first year of debt paid off. That said, scholarships be can be in excess of $10,000 for your first year on the higher end. Check out websites like Fastweb and FinAid! to find scholarship essays and contests that work for you. Most high schools have listings of local organizations that offer scholarships, whether it be a rotary club or a local arts foundation. The money is out there. And scholarships shouldn't stop with your first year. Some listings are for current college students. Research, write, and go claim it.

Colleges invest in their upperclassmen
Most universities, even ones that claim to not offer any merit-based scholarships, offer more and more need-based financial help as students increase in seniority. At my alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College, despite the shocking initial sticker price being among the most expensive schools in the country (if not the top of the list), Sarah Lawrence gets increasingly generous with her in-house aid. By my senior year, I was paying less than a third out-of-pocket than what I paid my freshman year.

With fewer and fewer college freshman graduating in a timely process, it makes sense that schools would want to invest in those looking to actually complete the program. Inquire about averages from your potential school's financial aid department.

So what now?
Unfortunately, most articles you read about staggering college debt offer little in the way of solutions and often end up concentrating on the bigger problem of the higher education system. That's great, and should definitely be addressed, but what do we do now?

Whichever college you end up choosing, truly choose it. We can argue about whether or not college is a necessity. We can argue if the high sticker prices at many schools are worth it. That said, at the point you decide that the investment is worth it, treat it as such.

Some people have the impression of liberal arts students lounging around talking about old books and goofing off for four years, coming out with a degree that is not economically viable. If you're looking to pay off college loans into your 40s, go ahead and do that. Or, put your passion, intelligence, and unfaltering work-ethic into everything you pursue, and your degree will prepare you to navigate an ever changing world. With a liberal arts degree, you won't be able to make, design, or build widgets for your given company, but you'll be able to think critically about where the widget's place is in society, the future of the widget, and the direction in which the widget maker needs to go. Ultimately, that's the work of CEOs.

In a society where we're sold on the fact that college is essential whatever the cost, it makes sense that those who don't consciously choose their education would be resentful of the package of goods sold and the debt to follow. College degrees no longer directly equate dollar signs and zeros at the end of salaries, but instead can account for the x-factors — the intangibles of life fulfillment and the ability to do a job and not just get a job. Stand behind your investment. Put a lot of time, research, and perhaps money into your education, and it will pay you back.