This Is How Much Your Student Debt Will Actually Cost You Over the Course of Your Lifetime

How much will your student loans cost you?

In 2015, the average student borrower is graduating with about $35,000 worth of debt. Paid over the course of 10 or more years, the cost of repayment will include several thousand dollars more to pay off the interest that accumulates on the loan.

But that estimate is deceptive. The cost of a student loan isn't just the money that goes into repayment. It's also in all the places that the money could've gone, but didn't.

According to a 2013 report by the think tank Demos, over the course of a lifetime for a household with two average borrowers, the cost of student debt that accounts for those missed opportunities comes out to well over $200,000. 

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