♪ SOLEDAD: WELCOME BACK TO MATTER OF FACT FROM PENNSYLVANIA. ONE CAMPAIGN ISSUE RESONATING HERE IS STUDENT LOAN DEBT. AMERICANS OWE NEARLY $1.5 TRILLION IN STUDENT LOANS. COLLEGE AND POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION IS NOW THE LARGEST SOURCE OF CONSUMER BORROWING BEHIND MORTGAGE LOANS. AND IN PENNSYLVANIA, GRADUATES HERE HAVE THE HIGHEST AVERAGE STUDENT LOAN DEBT IN THE COUNTRY, OWING ABOUT $36,000 AFTER GRADUATION. CORRESPONDENT JESSICA GOMEZ TELLS US, AS THE STATE TRIES TO GET A HANDLE ON THIS GROWING CRISIS, MANY BORROWERS ARE WORRIED THEIR DEBT WILL FOLLOW THEM FOR LIFE. JESSICA: 29-YEAR-OLD CARLOS APONTE, RIDING HIS BIKE THE 15 MILES ROUND-TRIP TO WORK TO SAVE MONEY. THE PHILADELPHIA HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER IS IN DEBT, AND HAS BEEN SINCE HE GRADUATED FROM TEMPLE UNIVERSITY 7 YEARS AGO. >> IS THE BIGGEST REGRET OF MY LIFE. DEFINITELY IS. $192 A MONTH IS THE MINIMUM PAYMENT. JESSICA: APONTE’S STUDENT LOAN DEBT, THOUGH, NO LAUGHING MATTER. THE FIRST IN HIS FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE, HE APPLIED FOR $50,000 IN FEDERAL AND PRIVATE LOANS. SO FAR HE’S PAID BACK ABOUT $14,000. BUT WITH HIGH INTEREST RATES, HE KNOWS $57,000. MORE THAN HE ORIGINALLY TOOK OUT. >> THE VOCABULARY WAS ALL FOREIGN TO ME. VARIABLE RATES, FIXED RATES, I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT ANY OF IT MEANT. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO BE A SERVICE TO OTHER PEOPLE AND EVERYTHING WOULD WORK OUT. >> IT WILL IMPACT THEIR ABILITY TO BUY A HOME, TO FORM A FAMILY, HAVE CHILDREN. JESSICA: AT THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF PHILADELPHIA, DUBRAVKA RITTER SPECIALIZES IN STUDENT LOAN DEBT. SHE SAYS THE SKYROCKETING COST OF COLLEGE TUITION IS PART OF THE PROBLEM. >> WE HAVE SOME OF THE HIGHEST TUITION IN THE COUNTRY IN ADDITION, THE PRE-RECESSION LEVELS OF SUPPORT FROM THE STATE FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION HAVE NOT BEEN RESTORED. JESSICA: JENNIFER O’MARA, ALSO THE FIRST IN HER FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE, TOOK OUT $36,000 IN FEDERAL LOANS TO GET HER UNDERGRADUATE AND MASTER’S DEGREES. VETERA UNTIL RECENTLY, THE 29-YEAR-OLD WAS WORKING THREE JOBS. >> I HAVE A STORY TO TELL YOU. JESSICA: LAST NOVEMBER, THINGS CHANGED. SHE RAN FOR A SEAT ON THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE LEGISLATURE AND WON, BECOMING THE YOUNGEST FEMALE DEMOCRAT TO GET ELECTED. SHE’S MAKING STUDENT LOAN DEBT PRIORITY NUMBER ONE. >> IS A STRESSFUL SITUATION. YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE DOING EVERYTHING RIGHT. NOW YOU HAVE A DEGREE, YOU HAVE A GOOD JOB, AND YOU STILL CAN’T GET AHEAD. JESSICA: SHE ENLISTED THE HELP OF ANOTHER MILLENNIAL FRESHMAN REPRESENTATIVE. THEY’VE CREATED THE STUDENT DEBT CAUCUS. >> EVERYBODY SEEMS TO HAVE A STORY. JESSICA: THE STATE REPS SAY THEY ARE FOCUSING ON PREDATORY LENDING, COLLEGE TUITION COST, AND HOW TO IMPROVE FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. >> IF THIS IS THE FIELD YOU WANT TO GO INTO, THIS IS PROBABLY SOME OF THE JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND THIS IS WHAT THEY MAKE. >> WE ARE GOING TO BE DIGGING OUT OF THIS PROBLEM FOR YEARS AND YEARS. I DON’T KNOW HOW I’M GOING TO LOOK MY KIDS IN THE FACE AND TELL THEM THAT THEY NEED TO GO TO COLLEGE AND DO THE SAME THING I DID. HOW DO I SET THEM DOWN THAT SAME PATH? >> HOW MANY OF YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO GO TO COLLEGE? JESSICA: CARLOS FEELS THE SAME PRESSURE WHEN IT COMES TO HIS STUDENTS. >> HOW DO I IN GOOD FAITH TELL STUDENTS TO GO TO SCHOOL IF THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE OUT THIS KIND OF DEBT AS AN 18-YEAR-OLD? THIS IS THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL DECISION YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IN YOUR LIFE AND YOU HAVE TO DO IT AT 18? JESSICA: HE’S STILL PASSIONATE THOUGH, ABOUT MAKING A DIFFERENCE. HOPING TO PASS ON THE LIFE LESSONS HE LEARNED, THE HARD WAY. >> I WOULD TELL MY 17-YEAR-OLD SELF TO RELAX, TAKE A MINUTE, GO FIND HELP, FIND SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN THROUGH IT. DON’T BE IN SUCH A RUSH TO BE A GROWN-UP WITHOUT GROWING UP YOURSELF. JESSICA: IN PHILADELPHIA, JESSICA GOMEZ. SOLEDAD: PENNSYLVANIA’S ATTORNEY GENERAL HAS JOINED OTHER STATES IN SUING SOME OF THE COUNTRY’S TOP STUDENT LOAN SERVICERS, ACCUSING THEM OF PUS