Student loan debt increased 4% over the 2014 average. Nothlit/Flickr
College students who graduated in 2015 left with an average of $30,100 in student loan debt -- an increase of 4 percent over the 2014 average, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Institute for College Access and Success.
About one-fifth of that loan debt came from nonfederal loans, which provide fewer consumer protections. Nearly a third of graduating seniors left college with no student loan debt.
The report is the 11th annual analysis by TICAS of students' debt upon graduation.
"Student debt is still rising, and the typical college graduate now leaves school with over $30,000 in loans," said TICAS President Lauren Asher in a statement. "We need to make college more affordable and debt less burdensome for students and families."
TICAS found that high debt persists in Northeast and Midwestern states, while states in the West had the lowest levels of average student loan debt. Two-thirds of graduates with state student loan debt attended college in Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas.
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