According to a new report issued by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE), the average student loan balance of public two- and four-year graduates has fallen 32.9 percent over the last five years, and that nearly 60 percent of undergraduates who completed a degree or certificate in Kentucky in 2023-24 did so without accruing student loan debt.
The average loan amount at graduation last academic year was $10,688, a decrease of $5,237 since 2018-19. This amount represents the average of all undergraduates at KCTCS and public universities who finished school with a certificate or degree in 2023-24, including those with zero debt.
When students with no debt were excluded from the calculation, the average rose to $26,115, still 10% lower than in 2018-19.
“This report is good news for Kentucky college students and reflects the tremendous efforts campuses are making to keep higher education accessible and affordable, despite inflationary pressures,” said Dr. Aaron Thompson, CPE president. “While headlines warn of a national student loan debt crisis, balances among Kentucky students have been falling for a decade, and especially over the last five years.”
Chris Ledford, director of data and advanced analytics at CPE and the report’s lead author, attributes this trend to several factors. “Because state and institutional financial aid has risen so significantly, students and parents are borrowing less, and many leave college debt-free. CPE has capped tuition increases since 2010, and campuses are increasing financial literacy programming, which teaches students and parents about responsible borrowing. We’re also seeing students graduate in less time, which lowers their overall cost.”
The report compares average loan amounts for KCTCS and public university completers, as well as for low-income, underrepresented, in-state and out-of-state students.
Excluding students with no debt, the average bachelor’s degree recipient owes $32,996 upon completion, compared to $13,629 for a KCTCS graduate.
Typically, out-of-state students carry the largest loan balances, followed by underrepresented and low-income students.
The full report can be read here.
Kentucky Today
I wonder how many people forgo college because they cannot afford to be $33 thousand dollars in debt at the end of four years. I came from a poor working class family and the only reason I was able to go to college was the cost of tuition and books at Northern Kentucky State College was so affordable that I could earn enough money working summers and part time through the academic year that I did not need to go into debt. I would not have gone deeply into debt to continue my education and thankfully I did not have to do that. 33 thousand dollars may not seem like a lot of money if you come from a solidly middle class family or higher, but to poor working class families that amount can be equal to or greater than a year’s total income. What most people fail to understand is that education is not an expense to society. It is an investment in the people that make up that society. With Trump’s attacks on colleges, universities and even public education in general fail to realize is that an educated workforce is more productive and more engaged in the civic life of their state and the nation. Maybe the latter is what they fear most. An educated population cannot be easily manipulated or controlled.