Total Outstanding Student Loan Debt (Source)

Over the course of your undergraduate (in addition to any post-graduate) education, your student loan debt is likely comprised of a hodgepodge student loans– in fact, students typically graduate with anywhere from 8 to 12 different loans, according to Mark Kantrowitz, the leading national expert on student loans and publisher of Cappex.com, a website that connects students with colleges and scholarships.

Students increasingly walk out of college with more student loan debt each year; in fact, graduates from the class of 2016 have an estimated $37,172 in student loan debt, according to calculations by Mark Kantrowitz, the leading national expert on student loans, and VP of Strategy at Cappex.com, a college scholarship resource website.

With average college tuition costs at $20,090, according to the College Board’s 2016 Trends in College Pricing report, students continue to rely on financial aid as a vehicle to get them through school.