--- title: These Are the 5 States Where Students Graduate With the Least College Debt description: In Utah the average college student graduates with $16,000 less in debt than in New Hampshire. authors: - name: Ian Salisbury role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/ian-salisbury-2/ bio: Ian Salisbury was a senior editor at Money, focusing on investing, banks and mortgage. at_money_since: 2013 articles: 91 covers: - Economy and Politics - Housing - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true published: '2017-09-20T10:00:35.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T06:51:47.000Z' section: Education tags: - College - student debt - Student Loans - tuition word_count: 309 canonical: https://money.com/states-with-least-student-debt/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![170919-students-graduate-least-debt](https://img.money.com/2017/09/170919-students-graduate-least-debt.jpg) No one wants to enter the workforce weighed down by student debt. Where you live -- and go to school -- can make a big difference. Just how big? Last year, students in Utah -- the U.S. state that did the best job keeping debt levels down -- graduated with less than $20,000 in debt on average, [according to an annual study](https://ticas.org/posd/home) by the Institute for College Access and Success. By contrast graduates in New Hampshire, at the bottom of the list, finished more than $36,000 in the hole. Students in Utah were also far more likely to receive their diplomas debt-free. Just 43% were saddled with loans on graduation day, compared to roughly three-fourths of New Hampshire students. The study, which looked at four-year public and private nonprofit colleges, found 17 states in which students graduated with average debt of more than $30,000. Students in Northeastern and Midwestern states tended to have the highest debt levels, while those in the South and West, where more students attend in-state public colleges, had lighter average loads. The institute recommended several steps that states could take to ease the debt burden for new graduates -- including a greater focus on need-based instead of [merit aid](https://money.com/best-colleges-merit-aid-scholarships/), and promotion of [income-driven repayment plans](https://money.com/best-income-driven-repayment-plan/). "College is one of the biggest investments Americans make, yet many are making choices without basic information," said report author Debbie Cochrane. "We need to make college more affordable." Here are the top five and bottom five states, ranked by the average graduate's debt load. To see where your state falls on the list, [click here](https://ticas.org/posd/map-state-data-2017#). **Top 5 - Lowest Debt Loads** 1\. Utah, $19,975 2\. New Mexico, $21,373 3\. California, $22,744 4\. Arizona, $23,447 5\. Nevada, $24,128 **Bottom 5 - Highest Debt Loads** 46\. Minnesota, $31,915 47\. Delaware, $33,838 48\. Connecticut, $35,494 49\. Pennsylvania, $35,759 50\. 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