How Colorado Ranks Compared to Other States When It Comes to Student Debt

The grass is looking a lot greener here in Colorado when it comes to student loan debt.

According to a new report from Wallethub, Coloradans have some of the least amounts of student loan debt in the U.S.

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Getting Your Education Can Be Expensive

It should come as no surprise that getting an education here in the United States can be extremely expensive. A large portion of students take out loans in order to pay for their schooling which can follow them around for years.

Wallethub reports that:

At the end of the first quarter of 2022, total outstanding college-loan balances stood at nearly $1.61 trillion, according to the Department of Education.

With 43.4 million borrowed in the U.S., the math breaks down to approximately $37,000 per person. That's a lot of money!

Biden Administration Providing Student Loan Debt Relief

On August 24, 2022, the Biden administration announced a plan to provide student loan debt relief to up to 43 million borrowers, including canceling the full remaining balance for roughly 20 million borrowers.

Those who earn less than $125k a year ($150k for families) will be eligible to receive up to $20,000 in relief. An application to apply for the relief will be opened later this year, but millions of borrowers will receive relief automatically based on income data. To find out more details, click here.

Colorado's Student Debt Ranking

By looking at 11 key metrics, Wallethub was able to determine which states have the most student debt and which have the least.

As surprising as it may be, Colorado actually ranked 8th in the U.S. for having the least amount of student debt. Wallethub ranked states from 1 to 51 with number one kicking off the most (bad) and 51 being the least (good).

Colorado also ranked within the top places for:

• the availability of student jobs (43rd)
• student debt as percentage of income (42nd)
• the proportion of students with debt (40th)

Colorado's biggest downfalls are:

• the percentage of student loans past due or in default (25th)
• the unemployment rate of the population aged 25-34 (22nd)

All in all, it could be a lot worse, and it seems that most Coloradans are trying hard to get rid of those student loan payments as quickly as possible.

To view the full ranking, click here.