Degree: Bachelor’s in industrial engineering from Kettering University

Facing college costs that are rising far faster than incomes, many Americans are relying on massive amounts of debt.

We talked to seven people overloaded with student loans. Here is Erik’s story. (Click through the rest of the gallery for other profiles.) –The Editors

Was my college degree worth it? Hell no.

I graduated from one of the top engineering schools in the nation, thinking my starting salary would be between $70,000 and $80,000 a year.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — What do you get when college costs skyrocket but incomes barely budge? Yet another blow to the middle class.

“As the out-of-pocket costs of a college education go up faster than incomes, it’s pricing low and medium income families out of a college education,” said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of financial aid sites FinAid.org and FastWeb.com.

The numbers confirm what most middle class families already know — college is becoming so expensive, it’s starting to hold them back.

The cost of a college education is rising faster than the cost of medical care and as much as three times as fast as consumer prices in general. But that’s just the beginning of the price of admission.

This is the story of a debt crisis few are talking about.

Americans now owe more on their student loans than they do on their credit cards — a debt fast approaching $1 trillion with no end in sight.

Students borrow because they see little choice. A college education, after all, is a key to success. That, it seems, is an article of faith.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Getting a degree used to be a stepping stone to limitless career opportunities. Now it’s more of a hiatus from living under your parents’ roof.

Stubbornly high unemployment — nearly 15% for those ages 20-24 — has made finding a job nearly impossible. And without a job, there’s nowhere for these young adults to go but back to their old bedrooms, curfews and chore charts. Meet the boomerangers.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Desperate to find jobs in a troubled economy, more Americans are enrolling in trade schools to learn practical skills that would give them more options in the workplace.

But some students are having trouble paying the tuition at these schools, and a recent government investigation has cast a shadow over the institutions’ recruiting practices.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The 64-campus State University of New York (SUNY) system, one of the largest state systems in the nation, adopted a set of reforms on Tuesday aimed at protecting students from deceptive credit card practices.

The reforms, developed by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, stem from an ongoing investigation into credit card marketing on college campuses. The statewide investigation has revealed “troubling practices” that have contributed to the “crushing credit card debt” faced by many students, according to a statement from Cuomo’s office.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — College students gearing up to graduate this spring are likely to make less on their first job than those who got their degree last year, according to a report released Thursday.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers said that average salary offers to 2010 bachelor’s degree candidates are down 1.7% to $47,673, compared to $48,515 last year.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) — The House voted 220-211 on Sunday to make Washington the one-stop-shop for cheap student loans and to boost funding for need-based scholarships.

While approving the overhaul of health care, the House also voted along party lines on another of President Obama’s top priorities: cutting out bank middlemen who collect subsidies to make education loans guaranteed by the federal government.

James Tsai is the sort of MBA corporate recruiters covet. He went to a good prep school, earned a degree with honors from Middlebury College, and made vice-president in Bank of America’s international wealth management group at the age of 26. Today, Tsai is about to graduate, straight A’s in hand, from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, a top-rated program in America. And he’s hustling to land his first post-MBA job — in China.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — With teen summer employment expected to hit its lowest level since 1948, the federal government is pumping $1.2 billion in stimulus money into job training programs for youth.

The funds are aimed at providing disadvantaged 14-to-24-year-old youth with job training skills and schooling to better prepare them to continue their education or enter the workforce.

States are now implementing summer work programs to put their funding to use. Some are devising brand new efforts to train young adults, while others are expanding existing initiatives. The workers, who must be low income and meet certain at-risk criteria such as being a dropout or disabled, will be paid at least minimum wage.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The 2.3 million college grads in the class of 2009 are finding that starting a career in the current economic climate will require some sacrifice.

While 73% of recent graduates worry about finding work after graduation, 50% say they have already changed or plan to change their career path, according to the State of the Student Survey released recently by DeVry University.

But putting long-term goals on hold and taking a “bridge job” don’t have to derail a grad’s ambitions.