WALL STREET CHEAT SHEET: 6 States Where Average Student Debt Is Over $30,000

Career College Central Summary:

Debt remains a prerequisite for millions of students obtaining a college degree. Across the nation, student loan levels continue to rise with each passing school year, but how much varies significantly by state and college.
The majority of graduates in the United States are holding a diploma in one hand and student loans in the other. In 2013, seven in 10 graduating seniors at public and private nonprofit colleges had student loans, according to a new report from the Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS). Nationally, the average debt for these graduates totaled $28,400, 2% higher than the previous year. However, at nearly one in five colleges, average debt burdens jumped 10% or more. In both years, about one-fifth of new graduates’ debt was in private loans.
“While loans are increasingly needed to get through school, graduating with burdensome debt is not a foregone conclusion,” said Lauren Asher, president of TICAS, in a press release. “Where you go to college matters, and the kind of loans you have matter, too. Federal student loans come with crucial consumer protections like income-based repayment plans, while private loans offer little or no relief if you hit a rough patch.”
How important is location? At the state level, average debt per borrower at graduation ranged from $18,656 to $32,795. In fact, six states averaged more than $30,000, while only one state averaged less than $20,000. As the table below shows, nearly all the highest debt states are in the Northeast and Midwest, with the lowest debt states in the West and South.

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WALL STREET CHEAT SHEET