These NJ Towns Are Getting Rocked By Student Debt, Delinquency

An interactive map shows which towns have the biggest and smallest student loan delinquency and debt rates in New Jersey (see maps below).

The interactive map recently published by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth conveys three key points about the nature of student debt and who it impacts:

• Affluent zip codes have high average student loan balances per household.
• Higher delinquency afflicts low-income zip codes.
• Within metropolitan areas, the geography of loan balances is very different than the geography of delinquency.

The report comes as a package of 10 bills that would help to make higher education more affordable and reduce student debt in the Garden State could become law. The bills unanimously cleared the New Jersey Senate earlier this year.

"A college degree has always been a means of professional and economic opportunity in America, especially for students from middle class and low-income families," State Senate President Steve Sweeney said. "These bills will take meaningful steps in New Jersey to make college more affordable and to minimize student debt."

Nationwide, students are taking on heavy levels of debt as the burden to finance college has shifted more decisively to students and their families, Sweeney said. In 2004, total student loan debt was $350 billion. It now stands at a startling $1.2 trillion.

See related article: Thousands Of N.J. College Students Eligible To Cancel Student Loans (Find Out Why)

Here is the map that shows the state as a whole in terms of student loan delinquency:

Here is the map in terms of student loan burden:

Scroll down to see which Patch communities have the smallest and biggest student-loan debt burden and delinquencies.

Bergen-Hudson area

Delinquency:

Debt:

Morris-Essex-Hudson

Delinquency:

Debt:

Middlesex-Somerset

Delinquency:

Debt:

Northern Monmouth

Delinquency:

Debt:

Southern-Western Monmouth-Northern Ocean

Delinquency:

Debt:

Central Ocean

Delinquency:

Debt:

Southern Ocean

Delinquency:

Debt:

Atlantic

Delinquency:

Debt:

Cape May (Ocean City)

Delinquency:

Debt:

South Jersey (Philadelphia suburbs)

Delinquency:

Debt:

Mercer area

Delinquency:

Debt:

See the whole report here

Shutterstock photo