Student Loan Programs in Crisis

Students walk near Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, Calif., April 23, 2012. Student loans have now surpassed credit cards as the largest source of unsecured U.S. consumer debt. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Americans are borrowing, not frivolously, but to further their chances to land that perfect job and move up the corporate ladder. To have that dream come true, about 60 percent of the 20 million Americans enrolled annually at an American university take out a student loan, according to statistics collected and reported on the American Student Assistance (ASA) website.