From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Student debt is out of control. Is it ever okay to default?

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International, a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Student debt for college and graduate school totals more than a trillion dollars, with the average amount owed about 35,000.

That's enough to make it an issue for candidates of both parties in next year's presidential campaigns.

Meanwhile, the New York Times is being called irresponsible for an op-ed piece

encouraging student debtors to default on their payments. Is that the start of a much-needed

conversation or just lousy advice? We'll hear more about the high cost of higher education.

Today's talking point, American citizens are being victimized by their parents' immigration status.

First, here's the news.

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Hello again, Warren.

I'll name back with To the Point.

The collapse of the for-profit Corinthian colleges may cost American taxpayers $3.6 billion. Even as declining taxpayer's

support has driven tuition sky high at public universities. Student debt is more than a

trillion dollars, and it's already an issue in next year's presidential campaigns.

Today's talking point, a six-year-old

American citizen who refuses to speak his collateral damage from policies that require her undocumented

parents to leave the country. We'll hear about American exiles and orphans. First, this news update.

Fast-track authority for free trade with Asian countries has been lobbied harder by the Obama White House than anything since the Affordable Care Act.

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