WASHINGTON, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Skyrocketing student debt is crushing the American Dream and driving the racial wealth gap in the United States, a U.S. civil rights organization reported Thursday.

Homeownership is the primary driver of household wealth in the United States and a key component of the American Dream, but the growing student loan debt is widening racial wealth gap and will in turn stall economic growth, said National Urban League in a report on its website.

Graduates in debt often settle for lower-paying, lower-skill jobs to start paying their loans right away, and this is even truer for borrowers of color, said the report.

Students of color are less likely to have wealth to finance either an education or a home purchase, leading to higher rates of loan debt, disproportionately limiting their homeownership possibilities, it added.