(The Center Square) – Last year’s Georgia college graduates on average racked up $28,081 in student loan debt, the 29th-highest average among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to a new report from the Institute for College Access & Success.
In Georgia, the share of graduates with debt during the 2018-19 academic year stood at 56%, the institute reported, while the total cost of attending college in the state averaged $28,641.
Nationwide, 62% of college seniors who graduated from both private and public universities last year had student loan debt, the analysis found. On average, graduates at the nation’s colleges owed an average of $28,950 last year, the data shows.
The 2019 numbers were below those reported the year before, when 65% of U.S. graduates had loan debt, according to the institute. The average student loan debt in 2018 was $29,200.
The slight decline in student loan debt was attributed to increases in state higher education spending as well as the effects of a strong economy prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the researchers said. But even so, student debt has not returned to the more normal levels that occurred prior to the Great Recession, according to the analysis.
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Which States Have the Highest Student Loan Debt?
State Average Debt of Graduates (2018-19) Average Debt Rank Percent of Graduates with Debt (2018-19) Percent with Debt Rank Total Cost of Attendance (on-campus) New Hampshire $39,410 1 74% 1 $44,069 Pennsylvania $39,027 2 65% 6 $43,974 Connecticut $38,546 3 56% 27 $48,662 Rhode Island $37,614 4 59% 18 $50,508 Delaware $37,447 5 59% 18 $29,388 Maine $33,591 6 67% 3 $35,050 New Jersey $33,566 7 64% 7 $39,219 Massachusetts $33,256 8 55% 30 $53,853 North Dakota $32,745 9 64% 7 $20,975 District of Columbia $32,039 10 46% 46 $64,354 Minnesota $31,856 11 66% 5 $34,345 South Dakota $31,653 12 74% 1 $25,335 Mississippi $31,651 13 55% 30 $17,609 Wisconsin $31,550 14 64% 7 $28,296 South Carolina $31,524 15 60% 12 $31,534 New York $31,155 16 58% 22 $43,375 Michigan $30,677 17 59% 18 $29,456 Virginia $30,574 18 56% 27 $33,971 Vermont $30,566 19 60% 12 $45,172 Maryland $30,303 20 53% 34 $35,601 Iowa $30,259 21 63% 10 $28,549 Ohio $29,886 22 60% 12 $34,678 Alabama $29,791 23 50% 36 $25,805 Illinois $29,666 24 61% 11 $42,705 West Virginia $29,272 25 67% 3 $24,979 Missouri $28,740 26 57% 24 $28,491 Kentucky $28,482 27 58% 22 $30,068 Indiana $28,112 28 59% 18 $31,855 Georgia $28,081 29 56% 27 $28,641 Oregon $27,542 30 54% 33 $33,343 Tennessee $27,525 31 60% 12 $33,397 Montana $27,265 32 57% 24 $23,188 Texas $26,951 33 48% 40 $27,302 Kansas $26,788 34 60% 12 $23,281 Arkansas $26,679 35 53% 34 $24,648 North Carolina $26,583 36 55% 30 $31,244 Colorado $26,562 37 50% 36 $31,396 Nebraska $26,026 38 57% 24 $26,436 Idaho $25,942 39 60% 12 $18,778 Alaska $25,925 40 48% 40 $24,536 Oklahoma $25,793 41 47% 44 $25,067 Louisiana $25,512 42 48% 40 $29,661 Arizona $24,712 43 49% 39 $27,746 Washington $24,645 44 50% 36 $31,186 Florida $24,629 45 48% 40 $29,638 Hawaii $23,577 46 43% 50 $29,290 Wyoming $23,444 47 46% 46 $16,275 California $21,485 48 47% 44 $36,347 Nevada $21,254 49 46% 46 $24,475 New Mexico $20,991 50 45% 49 $20,791 Utah $17,935 51 40% 51 $20,769
Source: Institute for College Access & Success
