Fla. college grad debt averages $18,621

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Fla. college grad debt averages $18,621
South Florida Business Journal


Thirty-eight percent of seniors who graduated from Florida colleges or universities last year were in debt, with the average amount owed on student loans at $18,621.

By comparison, the average national debt among college grads was $23,200, according to The Institute for College Access & Success’ Project on Student Debt report, which includes debt levels for the 50 states and District of Columbia and nearly 2,000 U.S. colleges and universities.

“With debt and unemployment at record levels, young college graduates may feel stuck between a rock and hard place.” said Lauren Asher, president of the Institute for College Access & Success, which produced the report. “Rising student debt is a serious problem, but struggling borrowers do have options to help manage their federal student loan debt, such as unemployment deferments and the new Income-Based Repayment program.”

In South Florida, students graduating from Nova Southeastern University in Davie had the most debt at $35,798, followed by Lynn University, a private institution in Boca Raton, with $30,175. The proportion of students with debt from those schools was 76 percent and 37 percent respectively.

Fifty-six percent of those who graduated last year from the University of Miami were in debt. The average amount owed was $24,500. At Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, 69 percent of students owed money with an average debt of $19,420, while 29 percent of students from Florida International University in Miami had student loans with an average debt of $10,899.