Student loan debts now fracturing marriages

Money issues have long been a leading cause of tension in marriages.

But as college has grown more expensive, mountains of student loan debt have become particularly thorny problems for couples to work through, according to a recent report from Student Loan Hero, an online site that helps people manage education debt.

More than a third of borrowers who responded to a Student Loan Hero survey said college loans and other financial woes such as credit card debt contributed to their divorce. Digging deeper, the survey found that 1 in 8 of those divorcees, or 13 percent, blamed student loans for ending their relationship, the survey of more than 800 divorced adults found.

Total outstanding student loan debt has cracked the trillion-dollar ceiling. But the numbers are more impactful when you consider that the average outstanding balance is $34,144 for the average student borrower graduating in four years.

That’s up 62 percent over the last decade, according to Experian, the credit reporting company.

And the percentage of those who owe $50,000 or more has tripled in the same period, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau noted in a separate report.

What happens to student loans in a divorce? According to CollegeInvestor.com, the name on the student loan is the one that matters for repayment purposes.

Well before college debt becomes a relationship killer, before tying the knot, Newman said, the key for a couple is to communicate and be honest.