So how’s that extension of lower interest rates on student loans workin’ for ya?

Can you say $1 trillion? Student loan debt throughout the nation is fast approaching $1 trillion.

According to the New York Federal Reserve Bank, student loan debt in the United States rose to $956 billion in the third quarter of 2012, rising 4%. And the New York Fed’s figures are conservative; the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said earlier this year that student loan debt had already passed the $1 trillion mark.

And those extended low rates are just dandy; according to the Fed, $23 billion of the new student loan debt came from new loans.