Are you a student who just started or is about to start college? Or, perhaps you are a parent preparing to send your child to college.

If so, consider this: Over the last decade, tuition costs have increased 79 percent. While government-guaranteed student loans have been capped at 6.8 percent -- on average, that guarantees less than half of the cost of a four-year tuition -- or only up to $23,000.

According to the Kansas City Star, many students and their families have had to turn to private lenders to supplement their pre-existing loans. Unfortunately, students with no cosigner, or students whose parents cosigned, but had a poor credit history, face up to 20 percent in interest rates on their private loans. Consequently, graduates find themselves forking over a large portion of their take-home salary to pay off their loans, which are tied to the current interest rate. With record borrowing, comes record debts, and many predict this trend will get worse, as tuition costs will continue to rise.