Undergraduates at UW-Madison who take out student loans graduated with an average of $27,711 in debt last year, up 4 percent from the year before, UW-Madison News reports.
That remains below the national average of $28,400 in 2013, according to a report from the Office of Student Financial Aid.
Undergraduate tuition at UW-Madison was frozen in 2013 for two years.
“There are a few possible reasons for the increase in undergraduate student debt amounts since 2012-13,” says Susan Fischer, director of the UW-Madison Office of Student Financial Aid.
“State grants for low-income undergraduates have remained stagnant and although federal Pell Grant dollars increased slightly, it was not sufficient to offset the modest increase in living costs. Additionally, the continued difficult economy has caused some student and families to rely more heavily on borrowing than they might have otherwise planned,” Fischer said.
UW System tuition is up 91% (!) over the past decade.