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Texas student debt ranks average among U.S. states

Posted at 5:59 AM, Jul 15, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-15 11:43:48-04

WACO, TX — In 2018, by the end of the first quarter, the total college-loan balances disclosed totaled $1.49 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

WalletHub released a study that shined a light on states with the highest and lowest student debt prices.

Texas ranked in the middle of the pack being the 24th state with the highest college debt.

Hunter Kosar completed his undergraduate work at Baylor University. He received a full ride to complete his masters degree in Dallas because Baylor alone put him at $115,000 in debt.

"I pay approximately $1,100 a month and I've done that for the last four years and will do that for the next seven years," Kosar said.

He was unaware at the amount of student debt he would be in when he started college, using an excel spreadsheet to keep track of his.

"Nobody truly made me feel like what it would be like to pay any kind of substantial figure a month and then do that the next 10 to 12 years," Kosar said.

Kosar says it's ironic he didn't know how much debt he would be in, as he is a finance major. When he looks back, if he knew he would be in this much debt, Kosar says it would be hard to ask his 18 year old self to take on that amount.

He does have a job that can help him pay for the debt, but he wonders what he would have to do if he didn't have the job he does.

"I assumed and I was told that I would get a job that would help me pay for that but my income is not that much higher than if I had a basic degree," Kosar said.

He suggests to really take the time to understand what kind of debt you could be in before signing up for those classes because there are sometimes other alternatives.

"Sit down and consider exactly what it means to take on that amount of debt, there is nothing wrong and in fact I tell everybody that asks me go to community college get your basics out of the way," Kosar said.

You can calculate the amount you will have to pay monthly with a student loan calculator.

You can see how the rest of the states rank with student debt scale in the WalletHub study here.