For older adults and young families the pressing financial issue may be paying off credit card debt or trying to keep up with rising food prices.

The concerns of those two demographic groups, however, pale in comparison to the enormous financial challenges facing today's student graduate as they embark on life's next phase.Since the charting of college tuition rates began in 1978, they've increased by 1,180 percent while food costs rose only 240 percent over that period. Higher tuition costs lead directly to escalating student debt. According to a report by the Manhattan Institute, student debt has risen a 325 percent in 10 years to a staggering $1.13 trillion, a figure that dwarfs the $880 billion that Americans owe on their credit cards.No one can deny the importance of a college degree, which can boost one's lifetime earnings, but those college tuition rates and the number of college graduates looking for work are major deterrents.More than 8 percent of college graduates under age 25 are unemployed and nearly 44 percent of recent college graduates are underemployed, including the 115,000 Americans with college degrees who are currently working as janitors.Combining the unemployment with student loan debt presents a double whammy for graduates.Of the 1.8 million students graduating college this spring, the 70 percent who have a student loan owe an average of $27,000. Student loan debt is the only category of household debt that continued to rise during the recession, according to the Manhattan Institute.State data shows New Hampshire with the highest average student-loan debt burden in the nation, with graduates having an average debt of $32,795. New Mexico college graduates have the lowest debt, with $18,656 on average but that state has one of the worst default rates in the country, at 20.8 percent.Six of the top 10 most indebted states are found in the Northeast and Pennsylvania college graduates continue to rank in the top tier.The average Pennsylvania student debt is $32,828 while the student loan default rate is 11.6.That was a $300 increase from last year when the Project on Student Debt reported that 71 percent of 2013 Pennsylvania college graduates were about $4,000 more in debt than the nationwide average of $28,400.Experts say Pennsylvania's high college education costs are driven by low subsidies for higher education and the fact that its two major public universities, the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State, typically rank among the nation's costliest public universities.Until government and college officials deal with those issues, the mountain of student loan debt will continue to grow.By JIM ZBICKtneditor@tnonline.com