Nearly 43 million Americans are bogged down in student loan debt, which altogether comes to about $1.8 trillion. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average federal student loan debt balance stands at $39,547. And that’s a heavy weight for new grads just starting out in life. New federal student loan rules, which lower borrowing caps, will go into effect on July 1. And some loan programs like Grad PLUS, which allowed graduate and professional students to borrow up to the full cost of attendance, will be discontinued. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said that the reforms center on “lowering the cost of college, simplifying student loan repayment, and restoring accountability to the federal student lending system.”