Ask any college student in the United States how they are paying for school, and student loans are likely to come up as a source of funding.

The average debt of graduating seniors from four-year colleges was $37,172 in 2016, and the amount of debt students owe has been rising.

This upward trend has people concerned, and rightly so, about the cost of a college education.

Rather than focusing solely on debt-free college, however, any discussion of solutions to the student debt crisis should include a reform of how loans are paid back.

The average debt of graduating seniors from four-year colleges was $37,172 in 2016, and the amount of debt students owe has been rising.

Taking out loans to pay for college is not an experience exclusive to students in the United States; student loans exist even in countries where tuition is free. What makes American student

loan debt different compared to the rest of the world is the process by which borrowers are expected to pay the loans back.

Other countries with comparable student loan debt use repayment plans that maximize the borrower’s ability to pay back student loans on time, yet the United States continues to lag behind other comparable countries on the application of alternative repayment plans.

The cost of college in the United States has come into the national spotlight this election cycle, but student debt is still an issue in countries with free tuition, such as Sweden, where loans can be used to pay for living expenses.

The average student debt in Sweden was $19,000 in 2013, yet Sweden does not have 3.9 million borrowers in default like the United States does.

Yes, there is certainly a significant population difference, but the American student loan system can still learn from Sweden’s system for successfully repaying student loans.

Federal student loans use a ten-year loan repayment period with fixed payments unless a borrower applies for an alternative repayment plan or consolidates his or her loans.

These options require borrowers to out seek an alternative plan on their own initiative, but perhaps it is time that loans start out with an income contingent loan payment plan that works for everyone, instead of the mortgage based plan that leads to default and bankruptcy.

An income based plan sets a threshold for the income of the borrower, above which the borrower begins to pay back the loan with a fixed percentage of his or her income. While income based plans do have shortcomings, such as unintentional incentive to work part-time jobs to stay below the repayment threshold, the negative effects are eclipsed by the positive effects on the reduction of student loan debt.

It is worth mentioning that the federal direct loans do have alternative payment plans based on income, but the threshold ranges from 10-20 percent.

For comparison, the rate is three percent in England, four to eight percent in Australia, and four percent in Sweden.

Even in other countries that use the mortgage loan system, loans are paid back over a longer time span than just 10 years, which reduces the initial financial burden for students starting out after completing their degrees.

Federal direct loans offer alternative plans that can extend payment to 20-25 years or borrowers can consolidate loans for a 30 year window.

The American system is overly complicated, but at least the alternatives to the standard plan are recognized as feasible options.

These time frames are consistent with those of other countries, yet not all borrowers can qualify for consolidated loans or income based plans under the American system.

A borrower must have already reached a certain debt-to-income ratio to even qualify for the alternative plans.

The American system is overly complicated, but at least the alternatives to the standard plan are recognized as feasible options.

Each plan has its own benefits and flaws, but by offering these plans at all, the government has already recognized that the main repayment system doesn’t work for everyone.

It is just one more small step to offer borrowers these choices from the start, so let’s start talking about loan repayment and lowering college tuition in the same conversations.