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Pennsylvania had the third highest overall student debt in a new analysis by WalletHub. The Keystone State had the second highest average student debt and the third highest proportion of students with debt.
The study looked at 10 factors under two broad headings composed of five factors each: Student loan indebtedness and grant and student work opportunities. The former was much more important in the final ranking than the latter, accounting for 85 percent of the state score.
Student loan indebtedness included average debt, students with debt, student debt as a share of income, debts past due or defaulted, and share of borrowers age 50 and older.
The work opportunities component made up only 15 percent of the overall grade, and included the state unemployment rate for ages 25 to 34, the underemployment rate, the availability of student jobs and of paid internships, and the increase or decrease of state and local government grants available for undergraduates from 2014 to 2015.
On a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 being the highest student debt, Pennsylvania got an overall score of 64.05, beaten only by Mississippi at 64.14 and Ohio at 64.25.
The state with the lowest score is also one many students would surely like to go for their degrees: Hawaii, at 14.44. Western states better known for epic scenery were the next two lowest, Utah with 15.83 and Wyoming with 27.71.