At four-year private colleges, it now costs $39,400, according to the College Board, which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid. Many students borrow to cover the tab, which has already propelled collective student loan debt in the U.S. past $1.7 trillion. The share of parents taking out federal parent PLUS loans to help cover the costs of their children's college education has also grown, NerdWallet found. High schoolers are also putting more emphasis on career training and post-college employment, a recent report by ECMC Group found. How to avoid taking on too much student debt

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Persons: Sarah Foster, NerdWallet, Parker O'Neill Organizations: College Board, Bankrate.com, The Institute, College, National Center for Education Statistics, Century College, ECMC Group Locations: U.S, White Bear Lake , Minnesota