In 2019, student loan debt in the United States reached a whopping total of $1.5 trillion, with an average of $29,000 owed per student. It takes student debt holders an average of 19.7 years to pay off their debt, with an average monthly payment of $393 per month, according to the New York Times. While politicians like U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren have proposed plans to help alleviate student debt burdens and perhaps even forgive up to $50,000 in debt for families making under $100,000 a year, the student loan situation shows no sign of going away any time soon. Here are some answers to questions you might have about student debt and loans.

What’s the difference between a grant, a scholarship and a loan?
Grants and scholarships are considered “free money;” they don’t need to get paid back. Grants tend to be need-based and provided by the government. The largest source of grants in the United States is the Federal Pell Grant, which awards a maximum of just over $6,000 to each qualifying student each year. Scholarships can be need-based or merit-based, with anything from high grades and scores to a particular talent qualifying a student. A loan is money that needs to be paid back. The most common federal loans are Stafford Loans and Perkins Loans, which are low-interest. Students can also choose to borrow from private loan companies like Navient or Sallie Mae, which often have higher interest rates.

How much debt is too much debt?
According to college counselor Melissa Warehall, the college counselors at U-High stress borrowing within a reasonable amount.

“My opinion is that a reasonable amount is in between $20,000 and $25,000 over four years, not per year,” Ms. Warehall said. “Right now, the way that both the Stafford subsidized and unsubsidized loans work, if you’re awarded both a subsidized and unsubsidized loan, that’s about $5,500 a year. So that works out to be about $22,000 over four years. Once your loan debt gets above around $25,000, it becomes a burden.”

What could happen if you borrow too much?
Ms. Warehall said that borrowing an unreasonable amount can create a years-long burden.

“There are two ways it could come into play. One, when you’re making your first career choice out of college, there might be a great opportunity where you want to work for an NGO or a not-for-profit. But if you need to make a $400-500 loan payment each month, that might affect the type of position you are able to take when you first graduate from college,” Ms. Warehall said. “The other concern is that the way the government has structured bankruptcy laws, loans can never be forgiven. So even if you declare bankruptcy, your loan debt gets deferred, but not discharged.”

What are some benefits to borrowing?
“The upside to taking out student loans and borrowing during the time you’re in college is you start having a credit record,” Ms. Warehall said. “If you start paying those loan payments back as you should, you end up having a really nice credit score to start out with. You can’t get a credit score until you start accruing credit, so it’s a safe way to start building credit, as long as it’s a reasonable amount of debt.”

What are some resources I can look at to start?
The Federal Student Aid website is home to endless information about financing a college education. The website’s FAFSA4Caster can help estimate eligibility for federal aid with a few bits of information. To search for scholarship opportunities, the Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop section features over 7,000 scholarships and other financial aid opportunities.