This is a FREE preview of The United States of Debt, a Slate Academy. To get access to the full episode and more, visit Slate.com/debt.Today, Americans owe about 1.3 trillion dollars in student loans. But how does the impact of those student loans affect our economy? In episode 3, host Helaine Olen takes on America’s student loan crisis. Just how many of us are really burdened by the cost of pursuing a higher education, and is there a way out? Are student loans more common now, and why? Why are student loans such a mess in the United States, compared to other countries? And what do for-profit schools have to do with all of this? 

Plus — what do you do if you’re already suffocating under the pressure of your student loans? Our guest experts on Episode 3 include Sara Goldrick-Rab, a professor at Temple University and leading scholar on financing college education, and Robert Lawless, a professor University of Illinois’ law school and an expert on debt. 

This episode included music by Kai Engel, Chris Zabriskie, and Sergey Cheremisinov.