The student debt crisis is rapidly expanding, hitting a new record high of $1.6 trillion in 2019 and surpassing auto loans and credit card debt post-GFC. About 44 million Americans, or 20% of adults, have insurmountable student debts. According to Douglas McIntyre with 24/7 Wall Street, who examined brand-new student loan data from LendEDU, told KYW Philadelphia that college graduates in Pennsylvania, on average, have highest student loan debts in the US, coming in at $36,000 per graduate. "There are some other notable things about the state, which is the number of graduates with debt is 67%, which is the fifth highest of all the states," McIntyre said. The life-altering impacts of student loan debt on millions of millennials has been astonishing. Many are financially crippled in the gig-economy, working 2 to 3 jobs while barely affording to service their debts. Home purchasing, weddings, and starting a family have also been put on hold; millennials can no longer afford the American dream. While the Deep South struggles with high amounts of credit card debt; student loan debt is heavily concentrated in the Northeast. As the student debt crisis becomes more urgent ahead of the next recession, Democratic candidates have called for debt forgiveness programs that would wipe out student debts. With the 2020 US presidential election 482 days away, millennials with insurmountable student debts located in Pennslyvania and other states in the Northeast could cast their vote for a Democrat, with hopes that their debts would be erased.