Kentucky college students seeing less debt

More Kentucky college students are graduating free of debt.

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education says a new report indicates six out of 10 undergraduate students in Kentucky are graduating debt-free, up from four out of 10 students during the 2019-2020 academic year.

According to the CPE, 74 percent of community and technical college graduates are debt-free, along with 46 percent of public university graduates. The CPE says: “Significant increases in state and institutional grants and scholarships over the last five years made college affordable for thousands of Kentuckians, to the extent that many avoided student loans altogether.”

The CPE says students who are carrying debt are seeing decreasing average loan balances. The average KCTCS borrower owed $13,739 at graduation, down about $400 from five years ago, while the average public university borrower owed $32,564, down about $3,000.

In addition to increased access to financial aid, the CPE says more dual credit opportunities and increased financial literacy efforts have helped families borrow responsibly. One such financial literacy effort is the CPE’s website futuriti.org.

The full debt report can be found at cpe.ky.gov.