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Graduates from Montana Universities See Decrease in Debt

Average debt for University of Montana grad drops from $24,000 to $22,000

By Molly Priddy

BOZEMAN — Recent data shows students from Montana’s largest universities are graduating with a little less debt.

The 2017-2018 Common Data Set that colleges submit to major publishers indicates that Montana State undergraduates who took out student loans accumulated on average $1,209 less debt than the year before.

And compared to a couple years ago, 11 percent fewer Montana State students are taking out any loan debt.

The amount of student loan debt University of Montana undergraduates carry has dropped 8 percent from 2016 to 2017.

In 2016, University of Montana students who borrowed money graduated with $24,000 of debt.

Holly Wright, program manager at the University of Montana Financial Education Program, says the number had decreased to $22,000.

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