Fact check: Do NC borrowers really have some of highest student loan debt in US?

But that leads to a question. Those statewide averages are generally in a pretty tight range, with that figure in the $30,000s in 47 states. So is that even a meaningful way to measure student debt?

“I’d like to see consumers — and policymakers, for that matter — stop concentrating and focusing on that total number,” said Betsy Mayotte, a debt expert and the president and founder of the Massachusetts-based Institute of Student Loan Advisors.

“Because in my experience,” she added, “that’s not necessarily meaningful to families when they’re estimating how much student debt they’re going to have to take on.”