This is the amount of student debt that Americans owe. $1.8 trillion dollars — and counting. Education has never been more costly.

Although the student loan crisis is affecting many students, it has disproportionately affected Latinx people.

All Around 72% of Latinx studentsA 2020 study by Student Borrower Protection (a nonprofit focused on ending student loan debt) found that 66% of black students take out loans to pay for college. This study found that the median Latinx borrower still owes 83%, while the median borrower of a white loan owes just 65%.

The disparity could be due to many factors including lack of knowledge about financial aid, fear of increasing debt and lack of support during college.

Why Latinx Students Fear Debt

UnidosUS and University of North Carolina School of Law collaborated to conduct a survey. surveyA number of Latino college students failed to finish college. Their findings included the observation that students from economically disadvantaged communities often associate college debt with financial hardship that could impact their family’s financial security.

Amanda Martinez, Senior Policy analyst for Unidos’ Education Policy team, said that she worked on the report. “A lot of respondents claimed that they saw their cousins or sisters go to college, but that then went into debt. So I am afraid that I will be going down that exact same path.”

According to Vanessa Sansone Assistant Professor of Higher Education at University of Texas at San Antonio, this fear of building up debt and having it affect their families could lead to two main outcomes. These major outcomes could be students changing their college choice or moving to a location that is more affordable.

Kaitlyn Fikaris is a 2021 graduate of SUNY Purchase who has studied journalism and psychology. Fikaris originally intended to attend Penn State, but realized that the cost of moving in was prohibitive.

“We realized how much we were out of control. Fikaris stated that they went to the bank to apply for loans. However, as an 18 year old I did not have credit score and my mom had poor credit scores, which meant we were unable to borrow the money.

Inadequacy of information about the financial sector

Many Latinx families are able to afford college. This is an important factor for many of their children. Sometimes, the lack knowledge and difficulty in understanding the financial system can lead to even greater difficulties.

Dally Matos is a Columbia University graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work. She said that everything she has learned about social work comes from her own research.

Just before her freshman year, she was introduced to student loan options by the Educational Opportunity Fund Summer Academy. Matos stated that they were required to sign loans documents one day, and that she was confused. She stated that “I was to have a co-signer but I wasn’t sure who.” My grandma was my co-signer. I hope she will not have to repay my loans if I am able to live long enough.

Matos worried about Matos’s loans all her life. Although she did everything she could to make it affordable, she was unable to do so because of other needs such as gas and groceries.

She was told that there were private scholarships available and she could apply for them, but she didn’t have the time to do so because of her daily life.

Matos stated that it assumes I do not have to take two jobs during my undergraduate degree, as well as 18 credits of extracurriculars. Matos stated that it assumes that you have time to apply for scholarships. To care for my mom, I was forced to return home each weekend. “I wanted to, but couldn’t.”

She was actually afraid of adding more debt and almost stopped her from applying to graduate school. She questioned whether it was worthwhile and how she would ever be able pay it back. She decided that a master’s degree was the best thing for her.

Matos has approximately $85,000 student debt between her undergraduate program and graduate program.

Jessica Jacho currently takes a gap-year and owes $30,000 to her dad. For federal student loans she owes about $27,000.

Jacho was in her senior year of biology, with a double-major in Spanish and psychology. When she lost a grant from the state, Jacho had to withdraw. The state had given me a grant that was canceled, so the school required me to repay the remaining amount, approximately $6,000. The state gave me a grant, and the school told me that I had to pay it by a specific date. I did not. I was unable to attend spring semester.

Jacho has taken on four different jobs in order to pay off her father’s debts after he suffered several heart attacks.

She said, “It’s stressful me out to the point where I can’t get to sleep.”

Sandra Ocampo is a fifth year student at University of California Los Angeles. She double majors in sociology and communication. Sandra was not documented, so it proved difficult to determine what assistance she could receive. She is a DACA student and can only borrow the Dream Loan in California each year. That loan has a limit of $4,000 each year.

Ocampo stated that being an undocumented student and a first-gen is a recipe for confusion about financial aid. This was evident in my failure to receive financial aid despite the fact I was eligible at community college. It was me being proactive in educating myself about financial issues because, if I didn’t, no one else would have helped me. No one from my family had ever applied for university.

Yanely Espinal, Director of Educational Outreach at NGPF.org said a lack of support – especially in the Latinx community – is a very big issue.

It’s really about asking you to help us, giving your time to help fill out our FAFSA. Then explain to me how we can fund college. This is a difficult task to continue doing.

Be concerned about the repayment of student loans

This community is home to many of the most stressed and anxious students.

Matos stated, “I’m going to continue living in debt.” “My parents have been so generous to me over the years, so I am worried about my ability to repay them in full.”

Jacho is working out a strategy to reduce her debt. She will make $25-100 payments to begin paying the interest. This will allow her to lower her principal. Jacho expects to be debt-free within five to ten more years if everything goes as planned. She hopes she will be accepted again into Monmouth University for the spring semester — her application is currently under review. 

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Sandra Ocampo isn’t very focused on the repayments of her loans. She hopes to obtain a part-time position that pays enough for her monthly expenses.

Ocampo stated, “That hasn’t happened yet. It’s kinda stressing me out.” “I left it all behind for the future. Future me will have it.”

Student loan forgiveness is possible, there are still some options

After the Covid-19 epidemic struck in March 2020, student loans were stopped and interest rates waived by the government. The most recent extension of the loan was granted until January 31, 2022. This has allowed many students to plan and save money, which has helped them a lot. 

Under President Joe Biden’s tenure, the topic of student debt forgiveness is a big one. He has repeatedly pledged to cancel at the least $10,000 of the loans for all — but it hasn’t happened yet. Recent disappointment was exclusion from the Democrats of student loan forgiveness $2 trillion spending bill.

Fikaris declared, “That could mean everything.” While I don’t expect all my loans will be forgiven, at least $10K would have been a tremendous help.

Jacho acknowledged that student loan forgiveness could help her take “huge weight off her shoulders.”

Martinez and Espinal agreed that it would be very helpful to forgive $10,000, but more needs to occur.

“We need to have a comprehensive plan that looks at both affordability together with some debt cancellation and improving the current repayment plans of the federal government,” Martinez said, adding that a solution for the affordability portion, would be to double the Pell grant which would allow for those non-tuition costs to be covered.

Espinal stated that debt must be cancelled, but that something has to change to ensure that the cycle doesn’t continue in future years.

This is due to a lack of knowledge and support around student loans and other debts.

Sansone suggested that financial aid officers at universities must be “empathetic and understanding,” caring, compassionate, and patient. They should also have the ability to help families especially Latino families.

Espinal feels that any college or university lending money to students should have a requirement course attached.

Espinal stated that while they may benefit financially from lending money to you, they must also be responsible for teaching you how to borrow money from them.

Matos suggested that freshman orientation should include a class for student loan holders and counselors.

Matos expressed concern that student loan policies and repayments should be better understood and educated.

How to Navigate Loans

Although managing student loans can seem daunting for Latinx students and families, experts have some tips that will make it easier.

1. Discuss your concerns with your family members and school.Vanessa Sansone recommends having these discussions with your family, and then asking the financial aid office at your school as many questions you want to make informed decisions.
2. Do not wait to begin paying once you have graduated. Espinal suggests that you start making monthly payments — even if it’s just $10 or $15 a month — to start getting rid of the accrued interest in your student loan account.
3. Save money and start investing early.Espinal stated that opening a 529 savings account or a brokerage account in which you add money every month, or even a few months to it and allow it to grow has the highest chance of it growing for 10, 15, or 20 more years.
4. Assess the terms of your loan.Change your student loan plan if your minimum monthly payment is too high. You can also choose the longest term.
5. Loans with higher interest rates are eligible for an additional paymentSpend extra to cover your expenses and pay your loan.
6. Automate automatic payments by linking your checking account to your federal student loan portal — that can help save you money on interest.

CNBC’s “College Voices″ is a series written by CNBC interns from universities across the country about getting their college education, managing their own money and launching their careers during these extraordinary times. Denisse Quintanilla is a senior at Monmouth University studying Spanish and communications with a concentration in media studies and production. She is currently an intern at CNBC en Español, writing scripts for Informe CNBC, while also translating and producing videos to Spanish for Telemundo. Edited by Cindy Perman.