Connecticut ranks 15th on the list of states with the highest levels of student-loan indebtedness. This ranking from WalletHub takes into consideration a number of factors such as the proportion of students with debt, the average student debt, and the share of student loans that have defaulted or are in past-due status.
Borrowers who are enrolled in an income-based repayment plan are likewise among the student-loan indebtedness category. Connecticut has an average student loan debt of $35,448 when taking into account federal student loans only. Additionally, the total student loan debt amounts to $17.1 billion. As far as Grant and Work opportunities, Connecticut is somewhere in the middle, ranking 33rd in the country.
New Jersey ranks 14th out of all states for student-loan indebtedness. New Jersey is not particularly awful in any one area, but it is underwhelming in most respects. It has an average student loan debt of $35,730. Additionally, there is a total student debt of $41.7 billion in the state. And this is with only 1.17 million student borrowers.
New Jersey is right in the middle when it comes to Grants and Work Opportunities. That means that students have a somewhat better chance of finding a decent job that will help them minimize their debt and make payments. This is why New Jersey ranks in the lowest percentile of Student-Loan balances that are past due or in default.
Wisconsin is known for more than just cheese, it’s also known for its student debt. It ranks 13th out of all 50 states. The average student loan debt is $32,272, and the total student loan debt in the state for federal loans is a whopping $23.1 billion. If you are a student in Wisconsin, your chances of getting a sizable debt are high.
Nevertheless, your chances of getting out of debt are about equal. Wisconsin has a Grant and Student Work Opportunities ranking of about 14. It’s not the lowest unemployment rate but it's certainly something worth noting because your chances of getting out of debt are a little more reasonable.
South Carolina has the highest student debt has the 12th highest student-loan indebtedness by state. The average student loan debt is $38,662, and there is a total debt in the state of $27.5 Billion. According to WalletHub, it also has the fifth-highest student debt as a percentage of income - when adjusted for the cost of living.
Fortunately, it’s not all terrible when it comes to debt. South Carolina is about in the middle when it comes to Grant and Student Work Opportunities, so they have some means of minimizing debt, but with income opportunities being limited, paying off these debts can be tricky during or even after college.
Rhode Island is 11th in student-loan indebtedness and 46th in Grant and Student Work Opportunities. Students of Rhode Island are accumulating massive amounts of student debt, and they are having very little access to grants or work opportunities to help them pay it off. Whether that be a regular student job getting them through college or a paid internship, the availability of those positions is limited.
Rhode Island has one of the highest average student loan debts. WalletHub ranks it as having the fourth-highest average in the country. The proportion of students with debt is high but not enough to make the top five. Additionally, there is $4.5 Billion in student debt that applies to all state residents, at least in terms of federal student loans.
Iowa ranks 10th in student-loan indebtedness, but it does have one of the lowest averages compared to other states on this list at $30,848. The total student debt in the state, however, is at $13.2 billion, which means a higher proportion of students have debt.
For Grant and Work Opportunities for students, the state comes in at 40th place. Work options for students and paid internships are limited, so they aren’t helping to keep students out of debt while attending college. An estimated 427,900 borrowers live in the state of Iowa.
While Delaware may have been the first state annexed by the United States, it’s not first when it comes to student loan debt. According to WalletHub, Delaware ranks 9th in student-loan indebtedness. It has an average student loan debt of $37,338 according to EducationData. Delaware’s average student loan debt is the fifth-highest average in the country.
While this is certainly a high average, Delaware is doing okay in some areas. Delaware has a total student loan debt of $4.6 billion. For Grant and Work Opportunities for students, the state ranks 39th – just missing the top 10 worst out of all 50 states. Fortunately for them, it doesn’t make the top five anywhere else.
Mississippi ranks 8th in student-loan indebtedness but thankfully does rank 9th in Grant and Work Opportunities for students. There is a total of $16 billion in debt spread amongst the state’s student residents, and the average student debt is $37,080 particularly when you look at the state’s weakest areas.
Mississippi has the number one highest student debt as a percentage of income, when adjusted for the cost of living, compared to any other state in the country. On top of this, Mississippi has the fourth-highest percentage of student-loan balances that are past due or defaulted.
Maine ranks 7th in student-loan indebtedness. While Maine doesn’t have the highest population, a larger proportion of students are in debt. According to WalletHub, Maine is tied at 3rd place in this regard. The amount of accumulated debt in the state is $6.1 billion. The average student loan debt is $33,352.
Maine ranks worst of all when it comes to Grant and Work Opportunities for students, making the list at 51st place out of all states plus Washington, DC. Grant and paid work opportunities for students are just not there with Maine, and the state as a whole could really be doing a lot more for its student population.
North Dakota Ranks 6th in student-loan indebtedness. The average student loan debt is said to be around $29K, but there are only 84,900 borrowers in the state and a total debt of $2.5 billion. That means there’s a pretty high proportion of students with debt.
Career opportunities after college are certainly nothing to scoff at, however. Grant and Work Opportunities for North Dakota residents are ranked at 43, which means finding work during college is typically difficult. The state ranks lower for unemployment rate, thankfully. For its unemployment rate for individuals 25 to 34, the state places just 48th out of all states.
Minnesota is the fifth-highest for Student-Loan Indebtedness. It also has the fifth-highest proportion of students with student loan debt. While it suffers in many of those areas, where it suffers most of all is with Grant and Work Opportunities. The state ranks in 50th place out of all 50 states and Washington, DC.
To add insult to injury, the state has an average federal student loan debt of $33,822. Furthermore, the state’s total student debt is at $26.3 billion. An estimated 777,600 borrowers live in the state, meaning that most of them have a significant amount of debt.
Pennsylvania isn’t doing too bad when it comes to Student Grants and Work Opportunities. There are jobs for those in college and grants available for students who need them. So, while the problem may not necessarily be resources available to get out of debt, the debt itself can be extensive.
Pennsylvania is the fourth-highest for student-loan indebtedness. The state has the second-highest average student debt. At $35,804, the state has an average borrower debt that exceeds most others. The state’s total debt amounts to $63.9 billion, which is one of the highest in the country.
South Dakota comes in at number three for Student-Loan Indebtedness. It has the highest proportion of students with debt, tied with only New Hampshire. Another factor taken into consideration is the state’s average student debt, which is reported to be $31,858. The state has a total of $3.6 billion of debt.
South Dakota isn’t doing well when it comes to Student Grant and Work Opportunities. The funds are not available for college students, so they are getting more in debt and during college, the work opportunities are just not there for minimizing debt. For these reasons, South Dakota could certainly be offering more.
West Virginia is second-highest when it comes to student-loan indebtedness. It particularly suffers from having the third-highest proportion of students in debt out of the entire country, as well as having the third-highest student debt as a percentage of income. The average student debt in the state is $32,258, and the state’s total debt is $7.2 billion.
When it comes to the highest percentage of student loan balances that are past due or defaulted, West Virginia comes in at second place. There is a trade-off, however, and West Virginia fares better in terms of Student Grant and Work Opportunities. So, while its students are suffering from debt, there are more available jobs to get them out of debt and grants to help them prevent debt.
New Hampshire is at the top when it comes to student debt. The state has an average borrower debt of $34,353, and a total state debt of $6.4 billion. This is not the highest amount of debt out of every state, but when you also look at the proportion of students in debt and debt as share of income, New Hampshire is easily worse off than others.
Other factors to take into consideration are student loans in past-due or default status. Some borrowers with Federal student loan debt are also in income-driven repayment plans. All this goes to show is how difficult it is for people in the state to manage student loan debt. It ranks 48 in Grant and Student Work Opportunities, which includes available jobs during college and paid internships.
