2017’s States with the Most and Least Student Debt & MORE!

[adelaster]

Hello everyone!

I found this really interesting, especially since I live in the worst state for student debt. It certainly preoccupies me in many ways, and prevents us from financial investments like buying a home and pursuing a Graduate degree. Once my debt is gone I will have so much more freedom in what I choose to do!
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-student-debt/7520/
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-student-debt/7520/

The other interesting thing is this corresponds rather intriguingly with the rankings shared here regarding the completion of BA degrees:

http://247wallst.com/special-report/2017/09/23/americas-most-and-least-educated-states-2/

The data addict that I am, I started working on a spreadsheet aligning the two articles, which I might link here later. For the time being, the top four states with the worst student debt are Ohio, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Out of those four, two of those states also made the list for lowest amount of BA graduates- West Virginia and Mississippi. I definitely wonder about the correlation between cost, debt, and graduation rates.

 

[Crystal824]

As someone who has a ton of student loan debt and lives in PA. I find this very interesting. I would love to see your spreadsheet.

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

I would love to see your spreadsheet as well!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Why do you only consider BA degrees? Maybe there's a higher percentage of BS degrees?
Am I missing something?
I am at work right now and can't stop to read the articles. Do you mean any bachelor's degree?

 

[neatokimmo]

I am surprised TN is so high on that list. Lottery funds make it super cheap to go to college. Community college is free, some state schools are close to free. Most of our high schools work with the lottery program to provide funds while in high school for dual enrollment. It isn’t uncommon to have your associates when you graduate.

 

[goodeats]

California's UC system is a great bargain and one of the few financial reasons to stay in the state. DH and I both graduated without student debt (of course tuition was only $9K a year back then!), and are saving to pay for our DDs to graduate debt free in 10+ years. If they choose to go private or out of state they will most likely need student loans.

 

[adelaster]

As someone who has a ton of student loan debt and lives in PA. I find this very interesting. I would love to see your spreadsheet.

I would love to see your spreadsheet as well!

Here you go!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JkcQwM7yjKiI_op8AG44Zfy5O9r4I1yubDrznJdAny0/edit?usp=sharing

Some things jump out at you-but some things take time to notice.

I may add more things...

to be completely honest I have a lot of spreadsheets.

 

[DLgal]

California's UC system is a great bargain and one of the few financial reasons to stay in the state. DH and I both graduated without student debt (of course tuition was only $9K a year back then!), and are saving to pay for our DDs to graduate debt free in 10+ years. If they choose to go private or out of state they will most likely need student loans.

I completely agree. Plus, many of the schools are Top 20 ranked, nationally.

My husband and I graduated from a UC with a grand total of $15k each of student loan debt. We paid it off before I had our first child, 4 years later.

 

[adelaster]

California's UC system is a great bargain and one of the few financial reasons to stay in the state. DH and I both graduated without student debt (of course tuition was only $9K a year back then!), and are saving to pay for our DDs to graduate debt free in 10+ years. If they choose to go private or out of state they will most likely need student loans.

Just another reason to regret that I wasn't born & raised in California!

 

[MinnieForMe]

The New Hampshire tuition is definitely off. It says average tuition is around 15k a year including room and board. I don't think so. UNH is at 32K, Plymouth State is around 21k plus room/board. The private colleges average 40k and up.

 

[adelaster]

The New Hampshire tuition is definitely off. It says average tuition is around 15k a year including room and board. I don't think so. UNH is at 32K, Plymouth State is around 21k plus room/board. The private colleges average 40k and up.

It's four year public school only.

 

[AquamarineSteph]

I am surprised TN is so high on that list. Lottery funds make it super cheap to go to college. Community college is free, some state schools are close to free. Most of our high schools work with the lottery program to provide funds while in high school for dual enrollment. It isn’t uncommon to have your associates when you graduate.

The free community college program doesn't begin until fall semester 2018, at least according to what I have read. And the lottery funds didn't start out as generously as they're being given out now. I can easily see having substantial debt from previous years, and even more so if a person attended a private college or went for an advanced degree.

 

[MinnieForMe]

University of New Hampshire is a four year, public school. It's 32k a year not 15k unless they are looking at one semester only. Keene State is $26,753 (instate). I'm just saying that I wouldn't trust all of these figures to be correct.

 

[Colleen27]

Interesting. I've been hearing for a while that completion rates are at the heart of the oft-forecasted student loan debt crisis - it is people with "some college, no degree" that tend to have large amounts of debt and high default rates, while college grads (understandably) fare better when the loans go into repayment. And anecdotally, I think the federal loan limits factor into that for lower income students, who can easily hit the borrowing limit even budgeting responsibly and who often don't have anyone willing and able to co-sign private loans to bridge the funding gap.

University of New Hampshire is a four year, public school. It's 32k a year not 15k unless they are looking at one semester only. Keene State is $26,753 (instate). I'm just saying that I wouldn't trust all of these figures to be correct.

You're looking at cost of attendance, which includes room and board. The article used tuition and fees only.

 

[MinnieForMe]

You are correct! I did use cost of attendance including room and board. College is much more reasonable if you can commute. LOL.

 

[teller80]

Quick question - does this only take into account STUDENT debt (not parent loans?)

 

[MKCP5]

This must only be tuition and fees. Not room and board. We live in Massachusetts and both of my children are currently at UMass schools (public) with room and board, etc their bill is about 28K per year, not 12K and change

 

[tzolkin]

Why do you only consider BA degrees? Maybe there's a higher percentage of BS degrees?
Am I missing something?
I am at work right now and can't stop to read the articles. Do you mean any bachelor's degree?

I think they were just using BA as an abbreviation for any bachelors degree. The entire word wouldn't fit.

This must only be tuition and fees. Not room and board. We live in Massachusetts and both of my children are currently at UMass schools (public) with room and board, etc their bill is about 28K per year, not 12K and change

Yes, the article states tuition and fees. Room and board isn't usually counted in things like this since it is considered optional.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

This must only be tuition and fees. Not room and board. We live in Massachusetts and both of my children are currently at UMass schools (public) with room and board, etc their bill is about 28K per year, not 12K and change

I agree. I looked into Rutgers (our closest state school) for my son in late 2014 and it was $12k/year if he lived at home and commuted. It's probably much more by now.

 

[adelaster]

I agree. I looked into Rutgers (our closest state school) for my son in late 2014 and it was $12k/year if he lived at home and commuted. It's probably much more by now.

Rutgers is a public-private hybrid, and as such I doubt it was included in the CollegeBoard's assessment.

ETA: The in-state cost is still $11,619, which is less than the New Jersey average.

For the record, if you are looking at my document I linked and cited all my sources.