"According to [a recent] study, 55% of respondents would rather use the money they are paying for health care to pay down their student loan balance, and 49% would prefer student loan contributions from employers to 401(k) contributions. To put that into perspective, if this survey is truly indicative of what people with student debt think -- approximately 40 million Americans -- that means that those who prefer student debt repayment over health care and retirement savings are approximately 22 and 19 million people, respectively."