Average student loan debt tops $25,000

Students graduating from college last year walked away with more than a diploma, they also left with a record level of student loan debt.

College seniors who took out loans to fund their college education owed an average of $25,250, 5% more than the class of 2009 owed, according to a report from the Institute for College Access & Success' Project on Student Debt.

Thanks to rising tuition and the weak economy, students were forced to rely more heavily on loans to pay for their college education. If it weren't for a significant increase in federal grant aid, however, the increase in student loan debt could have been even higher, the Project on Student Debt said.

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