Student debt rises to highest levels yet

Student loan debt in the U.S. rose more than twice as fast as inflation over the last decade, with the class of 2014 borrowers on average owing $28,950, according to a national report released Tuesday.

According to the report by the Project on Student Debt at The Institute for College Access & Success, seven in 10 graduating seniors at public and nonprofit colleges in 2014 had student loans. Their average debt was up two percent compared to the class of 2013.

“Borrowers are graduating with a lot more debt than they did 10 years ago, and the Class of 2014’s average debt is the highest yet,” Lauren Asher, president of the institute said in a statement Tuesday. “Student debt has rightly become a major policy issue. Students and families need better information and better policies to make college more affordable and debt less burdensome.”

State averages for debt at graduation in 2014 ranged from $18,900 to $33,800, with six states showing average debt of more than $30,000. Neither Kansas nor Missouri was listed among the reports’ states with the highest student loan debt, nor were they listed among states with the lowest average student loan debt.

The report’s latest debt figures are for public and nonprofit colleges, which award 94 percent of four-year college degrees. About a sixth of the 2014 graduates’ debt was in private loans.

The Project reports too that few for-profit colleges “voluntarily report their graduates’ average debt.”

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Student debt rises to highest levels yet."