With President Joe Biden's 12-month student loan grace period set to expire September 30 (or non-payments will be reported to the credit agencies), we took a look at which states have the most student debt. A new study by The Kaplan Group, a commercial collection agency, ranked all 50 states in the United States — plus the District of Columbia — to determine which places struggle the most with student debt. Kaplan sourced data from the Education Data Initiative – and the results reveal unprecedented levels of overall debt for Americans. California holds the largest total student debt among all states, amounting to $146.7 billion. That means, on average, residents who borrowed money to pursue higher education owe $36,891 in student debt. The District of Columbia has the highest average student debt, amounting to $53,782. With $42,280, Maryland is the state with the highest average student debt. In Georgia, the average debt is $40,804, while Virginia has an average student debt of $38,900. Florida rounds out the top five with an average debt of $38,065.

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Conversely, North Dakota has the lowest average student debt, at $28,921. Iowa's average student debt is $29,943, and South Dakota's is $29,975. Wyoming has an average student debt of $30,357, while Oklahoma's average student debt is $31,182. The following fifive states, in our slide show above, have the highest total student loan debt in the country.