Of the 16 percent of students who receive education loans, the average amount is approximately $800.

Their largest liability, with an 8 percent average annual rate of interest, is $172,000 in combined education loans.

A student protest against education loans which took place three years later in central London also ran into trouble.

"One senior citizen 80 years told me she and her husband were still helping their children pay off education loans," she said.

Congress reports that education loans last year totaled nearly $10 billion.

More than half of America's college students take out education loans, with an average debt approaching $10,000.

Do you need information about federal grants or higher education loans?

Their only debts are $20,000 in education loans for a son and a $10,000 401(k) loan.

The higher education loans hold much potential but it also introduces a whole other set of potentially troubling issues.

Students from the three states would lose about a half-billion dollars in education loans and grants.