Report: Michigan Has Some Of The Highest Student Loan Debt In The Country
MICHIGAN — If your college-age kids are like many others across the country, an explosion in student debt may put some "adulting" on hold after they get their degrees. A recent report shows our state follows the national trend line, and new graduates are saddled with so much debt they may not be able to buy homes, get married or achieve other milestones.
Michigan ranks No. 11 in the country with an average of $31,289 being owed. Some 58% percent of 2017 graduates owe money on student loans, the report says.
Nationally, two in three college seniors who graduated from public and private nonprofit colleges in 2017 had student loan debt, according to the new report from The Institute for College Access and Success. That was a slight decrease from the year prior, but they owed a little more — an average of $28,650, compared to $28,350 in 2016.
State averages for debt at graduation ranged from a low of $18,850 (Utah) to a high of $38,500 (Connecticut), and new graduates' likelihood of having debt varied from 38 percent (Utah) to 74 percent (New Hampshire), according to the report.
It also showed that in 18 states, average debt exceeded $30,000. High-debt states tend to be in the Northeast, and low-debt states are mainly in the West.
Michigan was just over $100 shy of making the top 10 list in highest average debts.
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