Strange: Nearly one in eight Iowa State University students don't know they have student loan debt

Let's hope they are not accounting students. How can you be smart enough to go to college, but dumb enough to not know when you are signing papers to take out a loan? All parents want to send their kids to college, but college isn't for everybody.

Nearly 40 percent of Iowa State University students underestimated the amount of student loans they owe, while one in eight didn’t realize they had debt, according to research by ISU faculty and staff released Wednesday.

The financial literacy study, which surveyed 801 undergraduate Iowans in fall 2010, also found 10 percent of students underestimated their debt by more than $10,000. Only 22 percent had not taken out loans.

The results show a need for additional financial counseling to help students understand their borrowing and how it will impact their lives after graduation, researchers said.

Did you know Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards?