Students can come out of college with a lot of goals. Unfortunately, these days, they also tend to leave college with a lot of something else: student debt.
It is estimated that over 44 million Americans have such debt. The total amount of student debt in the nation is estimated to be around $1.5 trillion.
Now, while student debt is common throughout the country, the states differ in how much debt students tend to leave college with. This can be seen in a recent report by The Institute for College Access & Success.
The report looked at data regarding the Class of 2016 to calculate the average amount of student debt upon graduation in each state.
Where did New Hampshire rank in student debt? The state’s students (and their parents) might be discouraged to hear that it ranked at the very top. The report found that, in New Hampshire, the average student debt at graduation was well over $36,000. This was the highest average in the entire country.
In comparison, the state with the lowest average, Utah, had an average just a little under $20,000.
Leaving college with a lot of student debt can have major impacts on students. In some instances, it could make them more vulnerable to facing debt problems in the future.
Student loans hold a unique position among types of debt. Given this, when such debt triggers financial difficulties, there can be a variety of special considerations to keep in mind when deciding how to respond to the situation.
For one, student loans are among the types of debt that generally can’t be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Now, while student debt is generally not eliminated in bankruptcy, this does not mean that personal bankruptcy is unable to provide any relief for individuals struggling with student debt.
For example, when people face debt struggles, they are often not just dealing with one type of debt. So, when people with a lot of student debt are also struggling with other types of debt, bankruptcy might be able to help with eliminating the other types of debt, thus possibly putting them in a stronger position to tackle their student debt moving forward.
Skilled bankruptcy attorneys can help individuals in New Hampshire who are dealing with overwhelming student debt have a clear and accurate picture of whether bankruptcy would be able to help with their overall debt situation.