Student loan debt rose $1.2 billion in September

Even as millions of consumers dumped credit cards this year, Americans are still piling on more debt from student loans.

Consumer credit debt jumped by $3.4 billion in October to a total of $2.4 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

But credit card debt has been falling since 2008, so the increase was led by another jump in student loan debt, up $1.2 billion in September alone, according to the Wall Street Journal. About 8 million people stopped using credit cards over the past year, in part due to tightened lending restrictions.

Average college debt is now at an all-time high of $24,000, not including the debt of students who attend for-profit colleges.

(Stock photo: Getty)