Oct 27, 2015 12:04 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

Like many college graduates over the past several years, the class of 2014 left school with student loan debt, but how much they are left to pay off is at an all-time high.

In its 10th annual report, The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) detailed the rise in student loan debt from college graduates over the last decade. From 2004 to 2014, graduates' average amount of student loan debt rose from $18,550 to $28,950, a 56 percent spike.

But the TICAS report also found that percentage of students who graduated with student loan debt only rose from 65 percent to 69 percent over that period, U.S. News and World Report noted. The report bolsters the case for some form of free higher education, which has gained support from the Obama Administration as well as 2016 Democratic nominees Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

According to NBC News, Georgetown University published a report outlining the importance of a college degree; that college degree holders earn up to $1 million more in lifetime earnings than a high school degree holder. Thanks in part to student loans, college is more accessible than ever - 17 percent of today's graduates' loans were from private lenders - but tuition and the total cost of attendance continues to rise.

Mark Kantrowitz, student aid expert and founder of FinAid.org, told NBC News it is important for high school students to pick the right school based on their career aspirations.

"The choice of college has some impact, but not as much as you might expect," he said. "For example, Payscale.com has a nice tool for comparing estimates of lifetime earnings. The lifetime earnings of graduates of in-state public colleges are only slightly lower than the lifetime earnings of the most selective institutions for the same degree."

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