© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Reporting on the state of education in your community and across the country.

Ohio Ranks 14 in the Nation for Student Loan Debt

Credit: Kent State University
Credit: Kent State University

Graduates from Ohio colleges and universities finished their degrees with more than $30,000 of student loan debt on average last year, the 14 th highest dollar amount in the nation.

Sixty-four percent of Ohio graduates in 2016 carried some kind of debt when they completed their bachelor’s degrees, the 9 th highest rate in the country.

The rankings come from the Institute for College Access and Success-- a non-profit that conducts research about the national cost of higher education and advocates for affordability. This year’s report on student debt was the 12 th for the organization.

Ohio’s number 14 ranking for dollar amount was a drop from 10 in 2015.

But Diane Cheng, one of the report’s authors, said just because the state saw a drop in its ranking, doesn’t necessarily mean things are improving for Ohio students.

“The fact that there wasn’t a huge increase from year to year is encouraging,” she said, “but still students in Ohio are graduating with more debt on average than many students from other states across the country.”

Graduates of Kent State University finished their degrees with more student loan debt than at any other public institution in Ohio in 2016, at $33,324 on average. Seventy-six percent of the school’s graduates leave with debt, compared to the state rate of 64%.

T. David Garcia, the Senior Associate Vice President for Strategic Enrollment Management at Kent State, said the university is working to control costs and educate students about the perils of student loans, but he still believes in the value of a college degree.

“By earning a four-year degree, there is value at the end,” he said. “You know, taking out a loan for buying a car, for instance, a car depreciates as soon as you drive it off a lot. That depreciates, I always say a college education appreciates.”

Otterbien University reported the highest student debt last year among graduates of private Ohio universities, at $40,397.