Too often we hear stories about college graduates who are tens of thousands of dollars in debt. News articles and reports about the U.S.'s student debt/student loan problem crowd our newsfeeds, worrying parents and students about the financial burden they’ll have to carry once they graduate.

These fear-mongering stories have created a crippling anxiety in many students who believe these stories are the norm. The truth? They’re not typical stories.

The New York Times reports the Brookings Institution released data on Tuesday that proves that “the share of income that young adults are devoting to loan repayment has remained fairly steady over the last two decades.” The data also proves that “only 7 percent of young-adult households with education debt have $50,000 or more of it.”

Times writer David Leonhard argues this belief that an overwhelming amount debt is common among college graduates is perhaps distracting us from the real problem: the number of students who drop out of college with modest debt. In this current economy, a degree is everything when it comes to finding a job. But, the incidence of debt for households “with college but no bachelor’s degree… increased from 11 to 41 percent.” 
   
The bottom line: stories of loans and debt shouldn’t keep students from obtaining a higher education.