HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Does Student Loan Debt Put a Damper on Your Relationship? “About 37 million Americans are weighed down by college debt, according to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Twenty-seven percent of those students and ex-students also have past-due balances. The loans, whether they are his, hers or collectively his-and-hers, can be toxic for budding romances or new marriages.”