Now totaling more than $1.4 trillion shared amongst 44 million borrowers, student debt is at an all time high. This list based on a new study by the Student Loan Report shows current student debt by state.
Ranking | State (Including Washington, D.C.) | Avg. College Debt per Graduate |
51 | New Hampshire | $27,167 |
50 | Pennsylvanica | $24,622 |
49 | South Dakota | $23,641 |
48 | Minnesota | $21,665 |
47 | Connecticut | $21,348 |
46 | Delaware | $21,259 |
45 | West Virginia | $21,189 |
44 | Wisconsin | $20,104 |
43 | New York | $19,946 |
42 | Michigan | $19,593 |
41 | Ohio | $19,339 |
40 | Iowa | $19,301 |
39 | Rhode Island | $19,078 |
38 | Massachusetts | $19,023 |
37 | Missouri | $18,992 |
36 | Illinois | $18,783 |
35 | Montana | $18,689 |
34 | Maine | $18,418 |
33 | New Jersey | $18,331 |
32 | South Carolina | $17,918 |
31 | Vermont | $17,912 |
30 | Idaho | $17,906 |
29 | Mississippi | $17,693 |
28 | Kentucky | $17,327 |
27 | Kansas | $17,255 |
26 | Indiana | $17,013 |
25 | Virginia | $16,535 |
24 | Washington DC | $16,534 |
23 | Georgia | $16,375 |
22 | Oregon | $15,991 |
21 | Nebraska | $15,933 |
20 | Alabama | $15,901 |
19 | North Dakota | $15,444 |
18 | Tennessee | $15,302 |
17 | Maryland | $14,990 |
16 | North Carolina | $14,822 |
15 | Texas | $14,589 |
14 | Colorado | $14,013 |
13 | Arkansas | $13,995 |
12 | Louisiana | $13,442 |
11 | Washington | $13,104 |
10 | Hawaii | $13,027 |
9 | Florida | $12,915 |
8 | Alaska | $12,790 |
7 | Oklahoma | $12,551 |
6 | Nevada | $12,549 |
5 | California | $12,002 |
4 | New Mexico | $11,788 |
3 | Arizona | $11,564 |
2 | Wyoming | $11,420 |
1 | Utah | $7,545 |
What’s the data mean?
The study found that, for the graduating class of 2016, the average college debt per graduate was $17,126. On average, students in the Northeast incurred more debt than those in the southwest of the U.S. This has also illustrated that families in the Northeast, notably, spent at least 70 percent more on education than elsewhere in the country. Such spending is, perhaps, not surprising in a region where some of the country’s oldest schools are, with New Hampshire ranked first with the highest average college loan debt at $27,200 per student.
This geographic variation in the price tag on education — and by extension, student debt — has numerically meant that families in the northeast spend $35,431 for college, reports Business Insider. “That’s nearly twice the average amount spent by families in the West — $19,181 — while families in the Midwest and the South pay $21,577 and $20,953, respectively,” it reports.
But this problem of indebtedness is two-fold. It’s not just the incessant problem of student debts, but also low graduation rates. Jill Barshay, a columnist at The Hechinger Report, wrote that between the fiscal years of 2015 and 2016, 3.9 million undergraduates dropped out of school. This, she explained, has great financial and social impact because without college degrees, students who take out loans “don’t find good jobs to help pay back these loans.”
“It not only ruins their lives, it’s terrible for the nation’s budget. The loans are financed by the federal government, ultimately leaving taxpayers on the hook,” Barshay concluded.
Takeaway
To this end, those who leave school without a degree and with crippling debt find themselves in what some have called “purgatory.” Low prospects of employment, low repayment rates and subsequent defaulting compound this problem of high college dropout rates. Student debt heads towards a rather uncertain legislative future at the end of 2017, and it’s a problem that can no longer be ignored.
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