Student Debt Is the Worst in These 10 States

Going to school in South Dakota could leave you with a big tab by graduation
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 10, 2019 5:47 PM CDT
Here Are the 10 States With Most, Least Student Debt
Stock photo.   (Getty Images/zimmytws)

One of the "hot-button" issues in the upcoming presidential election is how students will pay for their education, WalletHub notes—and to put things in geographical context, it's analyzed the numbers to see which states have the most and least student debt. The site looked at a dozen metrics across two main categories—"Student Loan Indebtedness" (which includes factors like average student debt and the share of past-due loans) and "Grant and Student Work Opportunities," which looks at availability of student jobs and internships, among other things—to rank the states. Here, the 10 harboring the most student debt:

  1. South Dakota (No. 1 in "Student Loan Indebtedness" category)
  2. Pennsylvania
  3. West Virginia (No. 1 in "Grant and Student Work Opportunities" category)
  4. New Hampshire
  5. Iowa
  6. Minnesota
  7. Mississippi
  8. Ohio
  9. Michigan
  10. Rhode Island
Read on for the states with the least student debt.

  1. Utah
  2. Hawaii
  3. California
  4. Wyoming
  5. Washington
  6. District of Columbia
  7. Florida
  8. Nevada
  9. Alaska
  10. Arizona
Check out the entire list. (Here, the states with the best and worst school systems.)

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