The ability for middle class parent's to take loans out for their children in order to attend elite universities in the United States has also become commonplace. With private loans and loans from the government solely for parents becoming more and more common, this seems like a viable option for parents. Not only are they helping their children get through whatever college they want to attend, but they are also helping them get through college with no debt to carry with them into their lives post-college. This does create many problems for parents, however, because according to the LA Times, more than 7 million families have defaulted on their loans from the government or private institutions. This may allow children of these families to leave college debt free, but it can cause disastrous results for those families. A major impact is the lowering of credit scores, which will make it impossible for those families to move on after the loans have been paid off because no one will be willing to offer them loans at lucrative rates anymore for things such as cars and mortgages. While middle class parent's can take the brunt of their children's tuition so they are able to attend elite private universities, the reality of the sacrifice becomes real when said loans are not able to be paid.