b'FINANCES|ISTOCKNursing Education Debtfor a bachelor of science degree; $60,000 for an online master of science nursing degree. and Mortgage Approval:Student loans have become prolific over the last decade to the extent that U.S. students The Great Unknown currently owe more than $1.5 trillion in private and federal loan programs. Compare that with the total outstanding debt in the U.S. for auto loans at $1.1 trillion and $977 billion for credit How some lenders are qualifying nursing professionalscards. Since 2004, student loan indebtedness for home loans despite student debt By Josh Mettle has soared 302 percent, roughly ten times the growth in U.S. GDP during the same period. Student loan indebtedness has expanded ten times as fast as the U.S. economy. P aradoxically, the very tools nursing studentsputting a roof over their familys headat least forExacerbating the burden, borrowers cannot utilizet oh elpo btaint heira ssociates,b achelors,a while. Likea llhighere ducation, undergraduatea nddefault on federal student loans unlike mort- or masters degrees maypreclude them fromgraduaten ursingd egreesa ree xpensive:a tl east$ 40,000gages, credit cards or car loans. That debt is 20 SELF CARE|2019| www.elitecme.com'