Ruston Has the Worst Student Loan Debt in Louisiana

Student loan debt is one of the most common types of debt in America, with over $1 trillion owed. Surprisingly, here in Louisiana, the student debt explosion isn't hitting Shreveport, or any other city in the 318 area, as hard as it's hitting the small community of Ruston.

Ruston Has Worse Student Debt Than Almost All U.S. Cities

The humble college city of Ruston, Louisiana, tops all cities in North Louisiana for the worst student loan debt held by people living there. In fact, Ruston's student debt is so bad that it's worse than every city in Louisiana, including major cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans. That's according to a new study of over 2,500 cities and how bad their student debt crisis is.

The average student loan debt in Ruston is $24,609, which is around the national median. Ruston's student loan crisis stands out because local borrowers aren't making enough money to keep up with.

The city has one of the worst debt-to-income ratios across the country. The average bachelor's degree holder from Ruston makes $41k a year, and while that may be sustainable for some, there are a lot of people who just wouldn't be able to find a job like that.

Why Ruston Has It Worst

It makes sense that a college town would have bad debt issues, college students notoriously don't get well-paying jobs while studying for their degree.

Almost half of the 22,000 people counted in Ruston's population could be made up of the 12,000 Louisiana Tech University students enrolled at the start of the 2024 school year.

A College Student Studies in a University Library (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Students at university probably don't have the time or credibility yet to score a full-time job that can pay off the loans. In addition to students at Louisiana Tech University, there are former students still living there who dropped out before finishing their degree and getting a higher-paying job.

Then there's also the factor of Ruston's twin college city, Grambling. The cities touch at their borders, and both have universities that have stood tall for years. It's understandable to assume some students of Grambling University live in Ruston and add some more to the total debt in the city.