Report: Utah grads have lowest average debt in US

College graduates across the nation owed an average of $25,000 in student debt in 2010, while Utah grads had the lowest average debt at $15,509, according to a new report from the Project on Student Debt.

Student-loan debt was up nationally by 5.2 percent from $24,000 owed by 2009 grads, according to an LA Times article on the report by the Project on Student Debt at the Institute for College Access & Success. This is the first time the average student-loan debt has topped $25,000.

The debt increase was smaller than expected by some experts who had anticipated a larger increase because of the poor economy, the article reports, but financial aid helped offset costs for low-income students and those with higher tuitions.

You can read the report at www.ProjectonStudentDebt.com and read the full article at www.LATimes.com.

Jon Byington is the founder of DosLives.com, a news and entertainment website that reaches the growing number of Latinos in the U.S.