As thousands of Bay Area college students are graduating this month, many will face debt, and within a year or so, they'll be forced to start paying off those college loans.

KTVU asked a number of recent University of California, Berkeley graduates about their debt at their commencement earlier this month.

"I think right now about $15,000," said philosophy graduate Elizabeth Yates.

Political science graduate Selome Getachew said he owes more than $30,000.

David Akin estimated he owes probably around $40,000 to $50,000.

These students aren't the only ones with a repayment burden on their backs.

More than 30,000 Americans now owe a $1 trillion in college loans. Almost 90 percent of those loans are federal loans, and surprisingly, most people with student debt, almost two-thirds, are older than 30, officials said.

"Nationwide, two-thirds of all four-year college grads had loans, and their average debt is more than $25,000," said Lauren Asher, president of the National Project on Student Debt In California. "It's lower, about a half of all collegegrads, and their average debt is about $18,000."

Asher said in this economy, almost one in 10 college debtors now is defaulting on his or her loans, and they find out that debt follows them to the grave.

"If you don't pay back your federal loans, you're in a heap of trouble," Asher said. "Your credit rating is ruined. They can take your tax refunds, garnish your wages, even take part of your Social Security payment."

Most people don't realize that federal loans have new repayment options, Asher said. In one, the amount ofa monthly payment is based on income, usually no more than 10 percent of what the payer makes.

"It can be as low as zero if your earnings are really low," Asher said. "It also gives you a light at the end of the tunnel, because any debt that remains at the end of 25 years can be forgiven, or after 10 years if you work for a public or nonprofit employer."

One might assume that college graduates would pick one of those repayment plans, but by the end of February, only 630,000 borrowers out of millions had opted for them.

There are other ways to ease the payment pain. Graduates can defer payment if they're unemployed, pay more as their income increases, get a little discount by paying online and deduct interest off their federal taxes.

"Right before we got married, she said I inherited her student loans, as well, when we got married, and I was OK with that," said Brad Burkett of his wife, Michele.

She went to five schools in seven years to get her bachelor's degree, racking up $17,500 in federal loans and $20,000 in credit card debt.

Michele Burkett said it took her 10 years to pay off her federal loans, but her credit card debt still lingers. Despite the financial burden, she believes it was totally worth it.

Now, it's her husband's turn. Brad Burkett, a community college graduate, is borrowing $30,000 to get his bachelor's degree in engineering.

“Sometimes, you have to pay the price," he said.

At the same time, they're trying to save money to send their children to college.

"It scares me. My kids are going to have to face such high education costs," Michele Burkett said.

"I would want to be a teacher for elementary school if I don't go to culinary school and be a baker," said 11-year-old Angelina Burkett.

But, by the time she's ready for college, tuition alone at a four-year public school is estimated to cost $95,000.

Matt Burkett, 8, wants to go to college so he can be an engineer and build robots. His tuition may cost around $114,000, but his parents say it’s worth every penny.