That dream job as a broadcaster never materialized. She instead works as a full-time customer service representative, earning just over $11 an hour - at Sallie Mae in Hanover, the nation's largest private student-loan processor.
Each month, $376 - or more than 30 percent of her net earnings - goes toward her loans. That doesn't count the $50 a month she pays her mother, when she can, to help cover a $500 monthly payment her mother makes on another loan on which she herself defaulted.
"I couldn't keep up. The payments were too high," Williams said. "They'd ask me, 'Why are you behind?' I have other bills. I have to eat. They don't understand or care. All they want is their money."
Williams is among a growing number of college graduates who find themselves in financial trouble as they face the stark reality of just how much their education cost.
Two-thirds of college students who graduated in 2010-11 with a four-year degree had at least some debt, with the average being $34,430, according to an analysis conducted by FinAid.org, a website that provides information regarding student aid and loans.
That's more than triple the $9,797 debt carried by the average graduate in 1992.
That debt has been fueled in part by huge increases in college tuitions, which also have more than tripled since the 1980s, according a report released in May by the Pew Research Group.
In the 2010-11 school year, the annual in-state tuition at a public four-year college averaged $7,605, compared with $2,119 in 1980-81 - a 259 percent increase, according to the Pew report.
Private four-year colleges had an average tuition of $27,239 in 2010-11, compared with $9,535 in 1980-81, a 186 percent increase. (All figures are adjusted for inflation in 2010 dollars.)
The rising costs and debts have fueled a debate: Is a college education worth the cost?
