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Student loans climb: top 10 states with the highest college debt

Going to college or university isn't cheap, and with an average debt of $29,400, many graduates will be paying for their student loans long after graduation day. These states are home to the highest average student debts among loan-carrying, graduating seniors in 2012, according to The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS). Can you guess which state had the highest? 

4. Minnesota

Jason Wachter/St. Cloud Times/AP/File
Students and faculty do their best to protect themselves from the wind and cold as they walk around at St. Cloud State University between classes on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014, in St. Cloud, Minn. Saint Cloud State University had an average student debt of $30,990 in 2012.

  • By John Hilliard Staff writer

Average debt: $31,497

Students with debt: 70 percent

Minnesota college grads carried an average of $31,497 in debt when they finished school in 2012. But graduates of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Concordia University and Hamline University faced more than $40,000 in average student debt that year.

Winona State University had the state's highest reported debt load at $32,576 per student.  

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