NH Ranks High in Student Debt Compared to Other States in U.S.

Did you know that the average student loan debt in the U.S is over $37,000 per borrower? At the end of the first quarter of 2023, total outstanding college loan balances stood at nearly $1.64 trillion, according to the Department of Education.

And we wonder why college kids move back home with mom and dad for a few years after graduating. It's not (always) a failure to launch situation. It is getting increasingly more difficult for newly graduated students to survive financially in the real world, nevermind be able to buy a house or invest some money in their futures. In 1990, the average price of a house in New Hampshire was $129,300. Today, that number is $452,700. BIG YIKES!

So we know most college kids have debt, but where does New Hampshire rank in a statewide list of the Most and Least Student Debt? A site called WalletHub released its report and found that New Hampshire is 2023’s 7th State with the Most Student Debt. Well, that's not great.

To determine the states that are friendliest toward student loan debtors, WalletHub compared the 50 states across 12 key metrics. They evaluated everything from the average student debt to unemployment rate among the population aged 25 to 34, share of students with past-due loan balances, and more.

Having a mountain of student loan debt to deal with is not only unfortunate for the individual, but bad for the economy. So how we can we fix this issue? Should the government reduce the amount of money students can borrow? Should students and parents reframe their thinking around the return on investment to spending on higher education? I am far from an economist, but I'd love to know what you think!