How Rhode Island’s Student Debt Crisis Compares to Other States

By Sam Stebbins Updated Sep 13, 11:45AM EDT · Published Sep 13, 8:00AM EDT

How Rhode Island’s Student Debt Crisis Compares to Other States — © FGorgun / Getty Images

The Biden Administration’s recent announcement regarding student debt relief thrust the topic into the forefront of the news. Under the program, students awarded Pell Grants and who took out loans from the Department of Education will have $20,000 of debt canceled. Those without a Pell Grant will have $10,000 shaved off their outstanding balances.

According to the Department of Education, federal student loans currently total $1.6 trillion. All told, an estimated 45 million borrowers hold federal student loan debt. The average student loan debt among borrowers stands at $36,200. (These are the most expensive states to get a college education.)

Burdened by that much debt, many college graduates are not always able to keep up with monthly payments, but the numbers vary by state. In Rhode Island, an estimated 156,600 people have outstanding student loan debt, and of them, 6.5% are at least 90 days past due on payments, compared to 7.5% of borrowers nationwide.

The average outstanding balance among borrowers in Rhode Island of $33,100 is lower than the national average and the 16th lowest among states.

All data in this story is from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and is current as of 2021.

Rank	State	Borrowers with 90+ days of past due payments (%)	Average outstanding student loan balance ($)	Number of borrowers
1	Mississippi	10.8	37,500	417,600
2	West Virginia	10.0	32,500	215,900
3	New Mexico	9.8	34,400	217,700
4	Nevada	9.6	35,800	346,200
5	Oklahoma	9.5	32,100	474,100
6	Alabama	9.4	37,500	614,900
7	Kentucky	9.4	33,400	586,000
8	South Carolina	9.2	37,200	748,800
9	Georgia	9.1	41,600	1,639,600
10	Tennessee	9.0	36,200	867,800
11	Louisiana	9.0	35,000	639,300
12	Indiana	9.0	32,900	926,500
13	Arkansas	9.0	32,400	373,900
14	Texas	8.4	33,100	3,753,300
15	Arizona	8.3	36,300	870,100
16	Ohio	8.3	35,000	1,812,200
17	Oregon	8.2	37,900	552,100
18	Florida	8.1	38,700	2,665,400
19	North Carolina	8.1	37,200	1,349,100
20	Michigan	8.1	36,500	1,430,100
21	Missouri	8.1	35,400	836,200
22	Alaska	7.9	33,900	70,600
23	Kansas	7.7	33,000	391,800
24	Hawaii	7.4	35,700	126,500
25	Delaware	7.1	37,200	135,300
26	Pennsylvania	7.1	35,400	2,040,200
27	California	7.0	37,700	4,008,400
28	Maryland	6.8	43,200	874,000
29	Wyoming	6.8	30,800	56,500
30	Virginia	6.7	38,500	1,148,900
31	Illinois	6.7	38,000	1,704,800
32	Montana	6.7	32,800	132,700
33	Iowa	6.7	29,900	458,500
34	Colorado	6.6	36,800	818,800
35	Rhode Island	6.5	33,100	156,600
36	Connecticut	6.4	36,300	542,300
37	Idaho	6.4	34,000	223,800
38	Maine	6.3	33,300	202,700
39	Wisconsin	6.2	31,200	784,500
40	Washington	6.1	35,900	835,400
41	New Jersey	5.9	36,800	1,342,200
42	Utah	5.9	33,100	324,200
43	Minnesota	5.6	32,700	884,400
44	Vermont	5.4	35,100	90,700
45	Nebraska	5.4	31,900	263,200
46	Massachusetts	5.3	35,100	1,037,900
47	New Hampshire	5.3	34,700	221,600
48	South Dakota	5.2	29,800	132,000
49	North Dakota	5.2	28,500	114,100
50	New York	4.8	38,200	2,592,900

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About the Author Sam Stebbins →

Sam Stebbins is a writer at 247WallSt.com where his primary focus is on government policy, politics, companies, and broad social and economic trends. Sam has been writing in the money and news verticals for over 8 years and holds a bachelor's degree from Hobart College, which he earned in 2010. Sam resides in upstate New York and enjoys hiking, biking, canoeing, and skiing in the Adirondack Mountains and across the Northeast.