Brief Where Is Student Debt Highest?
Breno Braga, Sandy Baum
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While there is great focus on student debt at the national level, little attention has been given to the geographic distribution of student loans and how it relates to cost of attending college in a state. This brief shows that the states where the largest shares of college students have student debt are in the Midwest and the Northeast. The Western region of the country has the lowest share of college students with student loans. We also find that the share of the college-going population with student loans in a state is positively associated with the average cost of attending a public four-year institution.
Research Areas Education Wealth and financial well-being
Tags Higher education Asset and debts Family credit and debt
Policy Centers Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population Center on Education Data and Policy