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U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell visited the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor on Thursday to talk about college affordability and student loan debt.

"I think we're all concerned about the staggering amount of student debt we now see in this country," the Dearborn Democrat said to kick off a one-hour roundtable discussion with students and administrators inside the Michigan Union.

The freshman lawmaker, who took over her husband's seat in Congress in January, heard from students and administrators from U-M, Eastern Michigan University, Concordia University and Washtenaw Community College about the challenges facing students and graduates as they attempt to finance their educations.

Nearly 40 million Americans are working to repay $1.3 trillion in student loan debt, including 1.5 million Michigan residents who owe more than $39 billion, according to figures cited by Dingell, who is co-sponsoring a bill in Congress called the Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act.

The act, if passed by Congress, would allow federal and private student loan borrowers to refinance loans at lower interest rates.

The average student loan debt for students coming out of college in Michigan is now roughly $30,000, Dingell noted.

She said college grads could save thousands in interest payments over the life of their loans if they were allowed to refinance, and borrowers across the nation could save more than $50 billion on the whole.

"It's one piece of a very complicated puzzle," Dingell said, noting costs for tuition, textbooks and housing are all issues as well.

"But there are a lot of young people, and some not so young now, who have graduated with significant and staggering amounts of college debt that's been financed at different interest rates," she said. "Right now you can refinance your home. You can refinance your auto loan. But you can't refinance a student loan."

Dingell cited statistics that a third of all federal direct student loan dollars are in default, forbearance or deferment.

Linda Blakey, vice president of student and academic services at WCC, said she's concerned about an entire generation that, because of student loan debt, will either have to defer or won't be able to buy a home or have children.

"Even thinking about buying a car becomes an issue because of loan debt," she said, calling it a national issue.

Bobby Dishell, a senior at U-M's Ford School of Public Policy and president of the Central Student Government, said he's already considering that when he graduates this spring, at 22, he might have to start saving to send his future children to college.

"If I want to send my kids to out of state at Michigan, it's about $50,000 a year right now," he said, calling the cost of a college education "out of control."

He said he's fortunate his family paid for his education, so he's not graduating with debt, but he's also aware he's not going into a high-paying field.

"It's scary to think I might not be able to provide my kids the same things I was provided by my parents, or I may have to switch career paths to do that."

Davon Shackelford, a WCC student who is planning to transfer to U-M next year, was one of multiple students who raised concerns about the cost of area housing.

"The housing costs are a bit expensive, especially trying to transition from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor," he said, adding he would like to be close to campus to take advantage of extracurricular activities, but that might require taking out extra loans.

Dishell echoed those concerns, saying more and more U-M students are living in Ypsilanti to cut costs.

"In reality, the cost of living in this area is extremely high," agreed Eric Penrose, an EMU student who said he's working two jobs on top of going to school full-time.

Penrose said one of his jobs is at the university book store, so he can attest the prices for textbooks are outrageous.

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