FARGO
More North Dakota college students are graduating with student loan debt.
A new report by the Project on Student Debt said the percent of North Dakota students who graduated with debt in 2007 increased 9 percent from the year before.
Seventy-five percent of North Dakota graduates had student loan debt in 2007, putting the state No. 2 in the country with the highest proportion of students with debt.
The state that had a higher proportion of students with debt was South Dakota with 81 percent.
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Minnesota ranked fifth with 72 percent.
The report also listed Minnesota as fifth among the states with the highest debt levels.
Minnesota students had an average of $24,169 in student loan debt in 2007, compared to the national average of $20,098.
Across the country, student debt is rising faster than salaries for new graduates, the report said.
The average student debt at graduation rose by 6 percent between 2006 and 2007, while earnings for 18- to 24-year-olds with bachelor's degrees rose 3 percent.
The full report is at www.projectonstudentdebt.org .
