Student Debt and the Class of 2017

New data show that the average student debt for college graduates continues to climb but at a slower pace, according to a report released by the Institute for College Access & Success. Nationally, about two in three (65 percent) college seniors who graduated from public and private nonprofit colleges in 2017 had student loan debt. These borrowers owed an average of $28,650, 1 percent higher than the 2016 average.

TICAS’ 13th annual report on debt at graduation finds wide variations in debt levels across states as well as colleges. Average student debt at graduation in 2017 ranged from $18,850 in Utah to $38,500 in Connecticut, and new graduates’ likelihood of having debt ranged from 38 percent in Utah to 74 percent in New Hampshire. High-debt states remain concentrated in the Northeast and low-debt states are mainly in the West.