As the cost of a college degree rises so does the amount of student loans, according to a new study from the Institute for College Access and Success, the Christian Science Monitor reported.
The study allowed for a composite of the 10 states with the lowest amount of student loans, and why.
Number 10 on the list is Louisiana with an average student debt of $22,789 with 48 percent of students in debt, compared with a $33,000 student debt loan in Delaware, one of the states with the highest student debt amount, according to the Monitor.
The state of Kentucky comes in ninth place with 62 percent of students with an average debt of $22, 384. The study shows Kentucky has schools like Kentucky State University in Frankfurt that has one of the largest average student debt loads among their students found in the entire country, the Monitor reported.
The state also is home to schools like Berea College where most students are enrolled in a work study prgoram which lowers their cost of tuition and student debt amount, according to the Monitor.
In eighth place is the District of Columbia in Washington, even though it is not necessarily a state, the Monitor reported. D.C. has 56 percent of students with an average debt of $22,106. Their position on the list can be attributed to "low-debt" Gallaudet and Howard University, both located in the area.
Tennessee came in seventh on the list with 58 percent of their students in an average debt amount of $21,775, according to the study. The state is home to King College which is one of the top low-debt public colleges in the country, the Monitor reported.
Utah came in at sixth with 50 percent of their students carrying an average student loan debt of $21,520, and according to the Monitor, 92 percent of Utah's college students were accounted for in the study, only higher than the amount of students who participated in Alaska, Virginia and Arizona.
In Wyoming, 47 percent of the students have an average debt of $21,251 placing the state in the middle of the list. Wyoming only has one four year public university, The University of Wyoming, and 100 percent of their graduating seniors were included in the study, the Monitor reported.
In fourth place is Nevada with 41 percent of their students with an average debt of $20,568 and of the 10 states included in this list, Nevada had the lowest amount of students who even had a student loan debt, according to the Monitor.
The national average of students with debt in a state is 71 percent, placing Nevada below the average, the Monitor reported. Ninety-one percent of the graduating class in Nevada was included in the study.
Arizona came in next at third with 54 percent of the students with a $20,299 average student debt. The state's debt is low compared to the rate tuition is increasing and their placement is mostly because of the amount of students who attend public universities, the Monitor reported.
California is second with 52 percent of their students carrying an average debt of $20,269. California held first place last year and their placement is mostly due to the University of California's public university system which is considered the best in the world, according to the Monitor.
Some of the schools included in the system is University of California Berkeley and University of California Los Angeles, the Monitor reported.
The state with the least average student debt is New Mexico, with 61 percent of their students with an average debt of $17,944, according to the Monitor. Last year, New Mexico fell behind California with about $2,300 debt per student, but this year only 45 percent of their seniors were included in the study.
