Thanks to the interest on these loans, only 38% of borrowers make any progress in paying down their balances while many (42.6%) actually see their total student loan debt balance increase in the first five years of their loan. And it can take a lifetime to pay off. Twelve years after borrowing, the average borrower has barely made a dent in their student loans. That helps to explain why it takes the average borrower around 20 years to pay off their student loan debt. georgekamel #studentloans #collegedebt #salliemae