By Rollins Park
Murphy News Service
Minnesota ranks fifth in the nation for the highest level of average student debt, according to a new report released by the Project on Student Debt.
The average debt load of graduates in the state is $30,894. States with higher average debt loads include Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Hampshire.
About 63 percent of Minnesota’s 2013 college graduates had student loan debt.
The nonprofit research organization has also found that more than 650,000 federal student loan borrowers who were required to start paying off the debt by 2011, defaulted on loans by 2013.
Sen. Al Franken, a member of the Senate Education Committee, has made making college more affordable one of his top legislative priorities.
“With student debt now surpassing credit card debt in this country this report is further evidence that we have a lot of work to do to address the massive debt load that is preventing millions of students from being able to afford a home, a car, or to start a family after they graduate,” Franken said.
Earlier this year he introduced a bill that would allow 550,000 Minnesotans refinance their student loans — legislation he highlighted during the recent midterm election in a TV ad.
“You can refinance your house. You can refinance your car. So why can’t people like Grace and Ryan here refinance their student loans?” Sen. Franken asked.
In 2010 he helped pass a bill that reformed the federal college financial aid system by removing brokers from the student lending system. Savings were used to increase Pell Grants.
Franken also introduced the Affordable College Textbook Act with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in 2013. The average cost of textbooks is $1,400 a year for Minnesota students — $200 more than the national average, according to the senator’s office.
“In the fight to make college more affordable and accessible for Minnesota families, we can’t overlook the rising cost of textbooks,” he said.
Michael Dale-Stein, a spokesman for the senator, said the legislation would expand the availability of open-access textbooks, a cheaper alternative to expensive textbooks.