The cost of a college education in America is growing at an alarming rate.  A recent article by Lynn O’Shaughnessy of CBS News provides a list you should read before signing the dotted line…

Students who borrow excessively for college

Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org, released a white paper this week that concludes that extreme borrowing is far less common than you’d think. Here are Kantrowitz’s key findings that are based on 2007-2008 figures:

1. Overall, 1.5 percent of all undergrads and grad students graduated with six-figure student loans.

2. Among students with six-figure debt, 10 percent were undergraduates and 90 percent were graduate and professional students.

3. Nearly 72 percent of undergrads with these huge debt loads graduated from non-profit colleges even though these institutions represent just 17 percent of total undergraduate enrollment.

4. Undergrads at expensive private schools are 12 times more likely to gradute with six-figure debt than undergrads at public institutions.

5. Twenty four percent of undergrads with staggering debt earned degrees at public universities.

6. Forty nine percent of medical students and 36 percent of law students graduated with six-figure debt.

Read the whole list at the link.